


Resident Evil: Devolution

by PinoyGamer117



Series: Resident Evil: DEAD Series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Timelines, G-Virus (Resident Evil), Gen, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hogwarts Outbreak, T-Virus, Umbrella Corporation Knows about Magic, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22489960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinoyGamer117/pseuds/PinoyGamer117
Summary: Hogwarts School Year 2005–2006 was to start with relative quietness and some Ministry 'reminders'. Instead, two students are forced to fight and stay alive as they try to survive the experiments made by an alumnus with an agenda. They don't know it yet, but their nightmare has only just begun.
Series: Resident Evil: DEAD Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618108
Kudos: 12





	1. Harry

**Author's Note:**

> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**
> 
> Flashback - **# # # | # # #**
> 
> Speaking - "Word"
> 
> Thoughts - _'Word'_
> 
> Spells - _Word_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**  
>  Flashback - **# # # | # # #**  
>  Speaking - "Word"  
> Thoughts - _'Word'_  
>  Spells - _Word_

September 1, 2005 | 1700 Hours | Great Hall, Hogwarts

Harry Potter stared at the clear plastic case before him, the N70 phone with an earpiece in it ringing, feeling the eyes of everyone in the Great Hall stare at him. An owl had landed before him as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore called forth the food for everyone to eat, hooting quite loudly to attract everyone's attention before dropping the package and leaving for parts unknown.

"Are…aren't you going to answer that?" his friend Hermione Granger asked, looking scared as it kept ringing.

Before he could reply, a sultry female voice filled the hall. "Do answer the phone, Harry dear." the unseen lady ordered, making everyone look around in fear. "After all, it would be in the best interest of everyone if you did."

"Reveal yourself!" Headmaster Albus ordered, his angry voice booming across the dining hall as he stood up with his wand out.

"Oh hush, dear headmaster." the voice admonished, sounding completely amused as the teachers were caught off guard. "Only Harry dear can help me with my…problem."

Calling forth his Gryffindor courage, Harry opened the case, placed the earpiece on, and answered the phone. "Happy?" he asked sullenly as he examined the contents of the phone.

"Very!" the voice exclaimed happily, clapping at his actions. "Although I will be keeping our conversation open so everyone will know what's happening."

"Who exactly are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners. I am Mary Spencer, Slytherin graduate - muggleborn in case you're wondering."

"I'm not," he said flatly. "How do we know each other?"

Mary laughed sweetly, as if he told her a joke. "We don't know each other personally, Harry dear." she replied, chuckling. "I do believe you know more about my brother, Albert Wesker, or my adoptive father's company - the one whose weapons you ran into on that fateful September night in Racoon City."

**# # # | # # #**

"Sherry, run!"

"Look out!"

"It…it hurts Claire…"

"Claire, Leon!"

**# # # | # # #**

"HOW THE FUCK DID UMBRELLA FIND OUT ABOUT MAGIC!" Harry roared angrily as he stood up quickly, his fists slamming on the table as everyone around him stared in shock. Those who kept up with muggle news started whispering - how could they, anything that involved the Umbrella Corporation was bad news.

Only a few people knew he was in Racoon City when the outbreak began, Hermione and the Dursleys among them. He still had nightmares from it and carried something that would remind him of those days in hell. To think they've infiltrated the magical world…  _ 'Well, looks like Voldemort isn't that dangerous anymore.' _

"We've known about magic for a long time, Harry dear." Mary's sweet voice replied, laughing softly. "After I got my Hogwarts letter…well, a new avenue opened up for us to explore."

He left his seat, pacing about with a hand running through his hair. "I guessed you Umbrella fuckers decided mix technology and magic together." he said sarcastically, openly sneering to everyone's surprise.

Instead of answering, the entire middle section of each table lit up, a holographic screen appeared before every student and teacher alike. "Tell me, Harry dear," Mary asked softly as he neared the screen to look, two similar pictures in it. "How familiar are you with the T- and G-Viruses?"

"More than I'd like." he whispered, soft yet loud for everyone to hear as he stared at the pictures. Horror dawned in his faced as Harry realized why she asked. "Oh my god…"

"Ah, Harry dear realized what I did!" Spencer said with giddiness. "Ten points to Gryffindor! My, my, my, Harry dear, I-"

"Bloody Merlin, what have you done!" he cut her angrily. "Do you realized what you made?"

"Of course I do!" Mary replied, sounding offended. "I don't do things without reason, Harry dear - a magically-infused T-Virus has been my dream since I stepped into this school."

"Wasn't Racoon City not enough?" he raged on, anger burning through his veins. "Wasn't the T-Virus enough?"

Mary had the audacity to scoff. "Of course it was. However, that was a non-magical version tested on a non-magical location. The magical version, on the other hand…"

The screen suddenly shifted, showing Argus Flinch in his office staring at a vial on his hand. "Hey Spencer," the caretaker shouted as Harry's stomach grew cold. "You sure this G-Mage will give me magic?"

"Of course, Argus dearie." Mary's voice said sweetly as Harry stared helplessly at Argus. "Hogwarts is in for a surprise, Argus."

Argus looked suspiciously at the vial before popping the cap and drank it in one go.  _ 'Oh God Argus, I'm sorry…'  _ Harry thought in despair as the caretaker screamed in agony as he slowly transformed into the very monster Claire killed in NEST.

"Bloody Merlin!"

"Oh my god!"

"SILENCE!"

"Fuck…" Harry muttered in despair as he sat down, watching a mutating Flinch roar in agony. "I'm going to need a shit ton of explosives to kill him."

His friends around him looked at as if he lost his mind. "Oi, what the hell Harry?" Ron Weasley exclaimed, looking green. "I know everyone hates Flinch but…"

"Indeed Mr. Potter," the stern voice of Professor Minerva McGonagall reprimanded, announcing her arrival alongside the Headmaster, Professor Severus Snape, and Professor Dolores Umbridge. "Surely-"

"With all due respect Professors," Harry stated flatly. "Flinch is already dead."

"What makes you an expert on such things, Potter?" Snape scoffed, not hiding his sneer. "Fought one before?"

"Yes."

Harry could feel their incredulous stares at him - he said it like how one recalled a horrific event. "Harry…" Hermione asked slowly, eyes full of concern. "Did…did this happen in Racoon City?"

"Yes…and we have to bring down an entire underground laboratory just to kill it." Harry replied, recalling how Claire and Leon double teamed G to buy Sherry and him time to unlatch the train car.

"Harry," the Headmaster's voice brought him out of his memories. "Is Argus truly dead?"

Harry nodded grimly. "The original G-Virus was slow acting, taking almost two hours before it reached stage one." he replied, unconsciously rubbing his left arm. "This version looks like a far more dangerous and fast acting, isn't it Spencer?"

"Very perceptive, Harry dear." Spencer crooned happily. "All thanks to the magical genome my husband and I discovered."

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly, sighing. "You didn't set this entire shit show so you can talk to a Racoon City survivor."

"I need combat data."

Harry blinked, not expecting that request. "Let me get this straight - you want to test how powerful…this G-Mage is?"

"Yes dear," Spencer replied in a bored tone. "I need you to test how well all of them can stand combat."

"All of them?" Professor Umbridge asked, color draining from her face.

"Oh yes - all of my BOWs." Spencer replied maliciously. "You didn't think it'll only be Argus you'll be fighting, Harry dear? I made sure to add magical versions of your...friends from Racoon City."

"When the Ministry finds you," Professor Umbridge began, looking red in anger as Harry's eyes widen at Spencer's hints. "We'll-"

"-be scratching your heads because you have no idea on what to do." Spencer drawled, sounding completely bored. "Besides, if you try anything that'll ruin my experiments, I can activate the T-Mage within all of you with a snap of a finger."

Eyes wide open, Harry growled as he slammed his fist on the table. "How the fuck did that happen?"

"Quite simple, really." Spencer replied happily. "You really didn't think this would be the same T-Virus, did you Harry dear?"

"Bullshit!" Harry swore, fist clenching. "You're bluffing!"

"Do you really want to test that theory, Harry dear?" she drawled, making him pause. "Are you willing to call my 'bluff', only to see every single person in this hall transform into the very monsters you had to survive from back in Racoon City?"

He looked about, seeing the terrified looks of the muggleborns and halfbloods while the purebloods looked about warily. With no idea how Spencer did it, he sighed in defeat, looked towards Professor Dumbledore grimly, and shook his head sadly. "Very well," the Headmaster announced heavily. "What is it that you wish Mr. Potter to do?"

"Oh, nothing stressful." Spencer said dismissively. "I just need him to roam around the castle, fighting these new BOWs as he deems fit while I record the whole thing for review."

"You-you would subject a student to such horrors?" Professor McGonagall asked, shocked. "All by himself?"

"Of course, it'll be completely unfair to the BOWs if Harry had back up." Spencer replied nonchalantly, as if discussing the weather. "Harry dear must fight them in any way he deems fit."

Hope blossomed in Harry's chest as he repeated mentally what Spencer said. "In any way I want, right?"

Spencer snorted, amused. "You're a wizard, Harry dear - your imagination is your limit."

"Joke's on you then." Harry answered back, pulling out a tiny pouch from his pocket. Tapping his wand on it, the pouch enlarged itself and became a sling bag. Rummaging it, he grinned as he pulled out dark blue clothes with dragonhide padding and placing it neatly on to the floor. He then brought out the Samurai Edge pistol he got from Chris Redfield as a gag gift and the W-870 shotgun Leon kept as a souvenir, along with their respective ammo.

"Bold of you to think I didn't spend the past seven years after Racoon City doing nothing, Spencer." He said gleefully, the entire hall gasping as he stripped down to his boxers to reveal his toned muscles from years of workout. "I trained to fight, to heal, to shoot, and to prepare in case I ever got caught in another bioterror attack."

Grabbing the custom-made dragonhide armored pants he spent a fortune on, he was about to put it on when spotted Hermione and some of the girls near him blushing furiously red. "Err...are you okay, Hermione?"

"Just...just put your clothes on, Harry!" she exclaimed, still not meeting his eyes.

Spencer laughed loudly as Harry merely shrugged and placed it on, grabbing the dragonhide long sleeve polo shirt afterwards. "My, my, my, Harry dear, aren't you delicious." she said flirtatiously, getting an eye roll from him. "I should have known you Racoon City survivors won't sit about doing nothing."

"Like hell we would!" he snarled, buttoning up his upper garment. Once it was secured, he pulled out a dragonhide vest with ammo clips attached to it and wore it before putting on his sling bag. Afterwards, he loaded his pistol before holstering it on his left thigh. "You want your combat data? I'm going to give you your combat data by fucking them all."

"Aren't you eager! I had hoped to test my specimens against spells first but I-oh my...what do we have here." Spencer paused, sounding distracted. "It looks like someone volunteered to take care of that side of the problem."

The screen then showed a lit corridor where a blond-haired girl was running, stopping only to fire some spells at an unseen assailant before running away again. "Damnit Spencer," Harry exclaimed angrily, his unloaded shotgun falling onto the table. "Our agreement was it was only me!"

"Oh yes...but as I said earlier, I need someone to test how effective spells are against them." Spencer replied, giggling. "With dear Daphne coming from a pureblood family - a dark one, no less - no doubt that she knows enough spells to keep me...satisfied."

The witch's laughter filled the hall, creating general unease for everyone present while the teachers whispered furiously at each other. "Now then, I'll leave you to say goodbye to everyone, Harry dear." Spencer announced. "Once you're done, I'll open the doors for you to get out before locking them in again."

"How are you controlling the castle?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking constipated. "Only the Headmaster controls the wards of the school!"

"I just hacked into the school's...'mainframe', so to speak." Spencer answered, laughing at her own joke. "But enough about that, why don't you all say goodbye to Harry dear so I can get my test results. Tata!"

The call ended and Harry stood there silently, as everyone processed what happened before erupting with whispers of scared students. "Harry," Ron said as walked towards him, looking a bit queasy but trying to be brave. "Just say the word and - and I'll follow!"

Similar words from his fellow Griffins followed Ron's declaration, giving Harry some warmth that he had friends that were willing to follow him into hell. Whistling sharply, the entire hall fell silent as their attention focused on Harry. "I appreciate the help, I do." he said, smiling sadly at all of them. "But this isn't your fight."

"What the hell, Harry!"

"Oi, we can take care of ourselves!"

"We ain't weak, Potter!"

"I know!" Harry shouted loudly, quieting everyone. "But you have no idea what kind of monsters are out there. I know what to expect, especially if Spencer's hints are anything to go by, and I have the skills and equipment to last me the entire night if necessary - this isn't my first rodeo guys, believe me."

"Hem, hem." Professor Umbridge cut, looking at him critically. "I do have to ask, are you  _ really _ up to the task?"

"Like I said earlier, Professor - this isn't my first rodeo." he repeated. "Claire - the one who rescued my cousin and I back in Racoon - has a brother in the BSAA who regularly fights these kinds of monsters."

"Harry," Fred and George Weasley said in unison, getting his attention.

"Since Spencer said nothing against  _ indirect _ help," Fred began. "We thought-"

"-to give you this Decoy Detonator. A test product we have that-"

"-once dropped, it will scamper away while making loud noises and release-"

"-black smoke." George finished. "We only have one right now-"

"-but if you can get to our trunk-"

"-you can use all ten of them." the twins ended with matching grins.

Harry pocketed the device with a smile, realizing how useful this thing could be. "Thanks guys." he replied sincerely before looking around. "Anyone else?"

"Potter."

To his surprise, Snape handed him a heart-shaped key. "There's a Smith & Wesson Model 10 inside a flower-shaped boxed in my personal office." he informed him, eyes narrowing. "Rescue Ms. Greengrass and she can help you get into the Slytherin dorm to retrieve it."

"Th-thank you, Professor." Harry replied in surprise, pocketing it. Snape sneered at him before turning his back and went back to the Teacher's table. ' _ Well...you don't see that every day'. _

Suddenly, a brunette in Slytherin robes ran towards him, followed closely by Slytherin girl trailing after her. "Potter," the girl cried out, eyes red from tears. "Please, find my sister and keep her safe - I beg you!"

Thankfully, the other Slytherin clarified what she was asking. "The girl in the screen, that was Daphne Greengrass." she explained, worry in her eyes. "I'm Tracy Davis and this is Daph's sister Astoria, in case you're wondering."

"Please Potter," the young Greengrass pleaded again, grabbing his arms and shaking him. "Save my sister, promise me! House Greengrass will forever be in your debt and-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Harry cut her, gently pushing her away. "No need for that, I was going to look her anyway."

The two Slytherin look gob smacked at what he said, making him feel like he did something wrong. "You're...you're rejecting an offered debt?" Davis asked, looking surprised. "Potter, don't you realize what you're rejecting?"

"No, I don't." he replied calmly as loaded his shotgun. "But what kind of person would I be if I save people's lives for money and favors?"

"A pragmatic one?"

"An asshole." he replied seriously, pumping his shotgun before walking towards the door. "Now open the goddamn door, Spencer - I got shit to kill and someone to rescue."

* * *

Character Visualization:

Harry Potter as himself

Ronald Weasley as himself

Hermione Granger as herself

Albus Dumbledore as himself

Minerva McGonagall as herself

Severus Snape as himself

Dolores Umbridge as herself

Fred and George Weasley as themselves

Tracy Davis as Barbara Gordon (Young Justice)

Astoria Greengrass as Arya Stark (Game of Throne)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like my RE:HP Crossover! In case some of my readers from FFN are here, I'm just cross posting this to AO3 and SpaceBattles since I will soon be releasing the Second Part of RE: DEAD Series.
> 
> A little bit of a background on this, for the new readers:  
> 1) Harry was born in 1990, not 1980
> 
> 2) Harry wasn't abused by the Dursley, more like him living as a tenant with them so Dudley doesn't bully him, he contributed to the household because he wanted to, etc.
> 
> 3) As explained later on, Harry ends up in Racoon City while staying with his cousin Sherry Birkins. The two get caught up with Claire's adventures (I'm using the RE2 Remake plotline, not the original one) during his stay and...well, spoilers!
> 
> 4) After the incident, he becomes friends with the RE gang (though he won't be present in all games). He and the Dursleys became closer, with him and Dudley becoming close friends.
> 
> 3) HP Books 1-4 happen but with certain twists that will be revealed throughout the story.


	2. Daphne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**  
>  Flashback - **# # # | # # #**  
>  Speaking - "Word"  
> Thoughts - _'Word'_  
>  Spells - _Word_

September 1, 2005 | 1645 Hours | Hogsmeade, Hogwarts Grounds

Daphne Greengrass' day just went from bad to worse.

To be fair, she wasn't really expecting to suddenly land in trouble the moment she entered Hogsmeade. Having just sat through some boring board meeting with her father regarding the family company, she wanted nothing more than to flop onto her bed and sleep the night away.

Daphne was brought out of her thoughts when suddenly tripped over something. "What the - Merlin's beard!" she screamed, scrambling away from the dead body lying on the ground. "Help!"

However, nobody came to her aid - in fact, it was only now did she realize how quiet the town was. Tearing her eyes away from the dead body before her, she saw the main street was  _ completely  _ deserted - not a single person in sight, stores lit but empty. It's as if Hogsmeade became a ghost town, all empty except for her and the dead body sprawled on the ground.

"He-hello?" she called out, drawing her wand out. "Anybody there?"

Slowly, Daphne walked towards the dead body and poked her foot at it. When it didn't react, she turned the body only to gasp in horror. Before her laid a pale, dead man, his chest gone as if something ate from it while a huge chunk of his face was missing, suggesting someone fired a Blasting Curse up close

Daphne immediately vomited the food she ate earlier.  _ 'What happened here?' _ she thought uneasily, wiping her mouth with her sleeves.  _ 'I have to get to the school, warn them what's happened.' _

Taking one last look, she broke into a run towards Hogwarts, taking good care to watch her step least she trip over another body. Silence was her companion as she ran, the house lights casting long shadows as she went by them and filling her with unease. She had just reached the intersection when she spotted three people standing near Honeydukes. "Hey," she shouted, relieved to see people as she walked towards them. "What's going on?"

They slowly turned towards her and to her horror, they looked like the dead man she tripped over. Their skin pale and dirty, blood coating their arms, and clothes torn as the three shambled briskly towards her, arms raised as they moaned incoherently.  _ Oh Merlin, what's happening?' _ Daphne thought fearfully as she ran away, skidding to a stop as a one...one of them blocked her path. "Stand back," she ordered, wand raised as it neared her. "I said stop!"

Completely ignoring her, the thing walked towards with its mouth open. " _ Stupify _ !" she shouted, the red spell hitting it squarely in the chest, stumbling backwards but still standing. "What the-"

The thing then lunged at her, causing her to fall to the ground with it on top of her. "Get off me!" Daphne screamed in fear, her hands trying to stop it from biting her. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the thing's face blew up, drenching her face with bits of blood and flesh as it fell on top of her, dead.

"Hello, Daphne," a familiar French voice greeted her as she threw the thing to the side. Looking up, she was surprised to see Fleur Delacour smiling at her in a form-fitting suit with some sort harness strapped to her chest, holding a weird item on her left hand while offering her right. "It hasn't bitten you, yes?"

"Fleur, I-you know what this is?" she asked, grabbing the hand to stand up. "What...what was that?"

The French lady sighed, stealing a look at the body. "A Bio Organic Weapon - BOW in short," she explained, doing a weird motion with the item on her left. "Imagine dragon pox but instead of killing you, it turns you into some of inferi. Come, we must head for the castle and bring this to Dumbledore's attention."

"How do you stop it?" Daphne asked as the two quickly made their way towards Hogwarts. "I mean, I tried to stun it but...it just continued on!"

"Use any spells that destroys the head," Fleur instructed, lips thinning. "It's the only way to stop it - Fire-Making Charm works too though it takes longer."

"What?" she replied, completely horrified.

"The virus kills them before turning them into those things. For all intent and purpose, they are already dead and killing them is the only mercy you can give."

"By Hecate..." she muttered, her stomach churning at the information.

The two remained quiet as they quickly made their way up the school path, everything around them silent as the wind. "I...I noticed you're grasp of English was better than the last time we talked, Fleur." Daphne began, trying to make small talk as they neared the castle.

Fleur chuckled. "I took a potion that would quicken the pace of my understanding." she replied, smiling softly. "I wanted to take the natural path so I can prove I could do it without magic but…"

Before she could reveal why, a loud shriek coming from Hagrid's house made her pause. With the moon illuminating the fields before the forest, they saw a herd of...hideous creatures. Its legs appeared bonded by a centipede-like fleshy piece of muscle with the upper part was a human torso, displaying a monstrously-warped face and marked by strange scars upon its nape and crown.

"What...what are those?" Daphne asked to Fleur, disgusted by their ugly looks. "Fleur?"

"Get inside, now!" she said, pulling out her wand as a fireball appeared on her right. "Floo the French Ministry and tell them 'Gondor calls for aid'. Bring Potter with you as well, he can help explain everything!"

Grabbing her arm, Daphne shot her a confused look. "What the hell is going on?" she asked her, only for the French to pull her arm away. "Merlin, Fleur - answer me!"

"Go!" she ordered harshly, fixing Daphne a hard stare before running towards the Pollux Tower and throwing the fireball towards the creatures. "Make the call, Daph!"

"Dammit!" she swore before running towards Merlin's Gate, firing a Locking Charm as she sped past it. Looking behind, her jaw dropped as the creature broke through as if it was nothing. Buying herself time, she casted her strongest Blasting Curse towards it before making a mad dash toward the Transfiguration Corridor, slamming the door to give her time to hide.

Entering the nearest classroom, she immediately casted a Locking and a Notice-Me-Not Charms on the door before slowly backing away Daphne held her breath, arm shaking as she heard snarling and moaning move by the door before it slowly went away. Exhaling, Daphne sank to the ground trying to steady her breathing.  _ 'What in Magic's name was that?' _ she thought to herself, staring at the door fearfully.  _ 'First the villagers of Hogsmeade, now these creatures - what in the world in going on?' _

Casting a Time-Telling Charm, she gave a sigh of relief that it was only 5:17 PM, meaning everyone was still at the Great Hall. " _ Homenum Revelio _ ." she casted quietly, revealing no presence before the door or the nearby corridor.  _ 'Right, the headmaster will probably be still at the Great Hall eating dinner.' _ she thought as she peeked outside, seeing no creature wandering in the corridor.  _ 'Potter would probably be there so that's two birds with one stone.' _

Deciding to take the corridor towards the Quad courtyard, she cautiously made her way with her wand at the ready. Reaching the end, she immediately hugged the wall when she heard growls and scratching. Taking a look, she frowned when she saw the creature scratching on the Muggle Studies door...as if someone was behind it.

" _ Bombarda _ !" she shouted immediately as she stepped onto the corridor, her spell blasting creature away from it and destroying its left arm-like tentacle. It growled angrily at her and spit out something, making Daphne jump backwards just to dodge it. " _ Confringo _ !"

The curse missed it and the creature lunged after her, causing her to run away from it. Remembering Fleur's advice, she aimed her wand at the creature's head. " _ Bombarda _ !  _ Confringo _ !" she fired, the two spells completely obliterating the head. Quickly burning the creature with an  _ Incendio _ just to be safe, Daphne immediately knocked on the Muggle Studies door. "Hello, anyone there?"

"Is…is the monster gone?" a young, feminine voice asked fearfully.

Blinking back in surprise, she frowned.  _ 'A lost first year?' _ "Uh...yes, I made it go away." she replied, looking about nervously in case any more of them came back.

Slowly, the door opened to reveal a young, ginger-haired girl (looking no older than five), staring fearfully at her. "Who…who are you?"

Being good with children, Daphne crouched and gave her a warm smile. "I'm Daphne, a Fifth Year here." she answered, offering her hand. "What's your name?"

The girl stared at her nervously before slowly shaking her hand. "Emma...Emma Filch." she replied shyly, to her surprise. "My daddy works here, cleaning the school. He brought me here because someone was going to give him magic."

' _ Flinch has a daughter? And doesn't he have magic?' _ "Oh...do you know where he is?" she asked Emma. "I'm sure he's worried about you."

"EEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMM!" a loud screech cut their conversation short. To her horror, Daphne spotted a grotesquely disfigured person (or monster, she wasn't sure anymore) at the end of the hallway. Though somewhat human, its entire right side was badly transfigured and mutated, turning the right arm into some sort of tree trunk with a gigantic red eye on its shoulder.

"Emma…" she said warily, offering her hand to the child. "Grab my hand and don't let go!"

Taking off quickly, Daphne casted a Slippery Jinx on the floor as she turned left towards the footbridge heading for the Quad. A cry of pain warned her that the monster had fallen for her jinx, crashing onto the wall just as they neared the door blocking their way. " _ Bombarda Maxima _ !" she casted, blowing it up to create a hole into the Quad.

Once past the hole, she quickly fired a Slowing Charm at the monster, a Slippery Jinx on the floor, and a Repair Charm and a Freezing Spell on the door in quick succession, hoping the frozen door would be enough to hold whatever was chasing them while the charm and jinx slowed it down.

"Greengrass?"

Quickly pointing her wand towards the voice, she sighed in relief when she saw pretty boy Harry-bloody-Potter standing by the archway with something similar Fleur had. "Son of a Bludger Potter - don't do that!" she exclaimed tiredly, dropping her wand arm as Emma hid behind her. "Where in Merlin's name is everyone?"

"They're held hostage in the Great Hall," Harry revealed as he ran towards them. "What happened?"

"'Held hostage'?" she repeated incredulously. "Potter, what's happening? First Hogsmeade-"

The frozen door suddenly shook, the ice cracking under pressure. "Shit," Potter cursed, pointing the thingy at it. "Get to the Grand Staircase now!"

Not willing to argue, Daphne grabbed Emma's hand and led her towards the open doorway just as the entire wall exploded again and the monster slowly stepped into the courtyard. "Up the stairs, now!" Potter screamed, doing something with the thingy on his hand.

She dragged Emma up the stairs as fast as she can, stumbling on the first floor when she heard an explosion, Potter quickly climbing up after them. "That should buy us some time," he said, raising her up. "Come on!"

"Trying Potter!" she growled angrily, making sure Emma was in front of her as they reached the second floor. "I'm trying to save someone here!"

They were about to climb the stairs to the third floor when Daphne heard a loud pop behind her before being thrown away from Emma. "Daphne!" she heard the child scream, standing up in time to see the little girl safe as the stairway moved away from them...leaving her in the mercy of the monster before her.

"Greengrass," she heard the Gryffindor shout as she drew her wand. "Aim for the eye on shoulder and try to make it fall!"

' _ Easier said than done.' _ she thought as the monster before screamed in rage. " _ Confringo _ !" she casted, her curse sailing towards the monster's eye. Enraged, it quickly lumbered towards her, batting her Blasting curse away before smashing its mutated arm on her. Thankfully, years of her aunt's harsh training made her quickly dodge the attack, rolling away and standing behind it.

For some reason, the monster did not get up, giving Daphne a chance to use the Fire-Making Charm to try and burn it. Unfortunately, she was standing too close when it suddenly backhanded her, crashing on the wall and dropping her wand. Trying to get her bearings, she started choking as the monster's ordinary hand closed on her and raised her against it.

Trying to pry the hand, the Slytherin stared in horror as she saw the scarred face of Argus Filch looking at her angrily. "Stuuuuudddeennnttssss ooooouuuuttttt ooooofffffff bbbbbbbeeeeeddd!" he tried to say as he squeezed her throat harder.

Thankfully, Potter did something competent because the Argus-Monster suddenly dropped her while screaming incoherently, trying to get something off his back. Grabbing her fallen wand, she scrambled away and casted a Knockback Jinx Duo...which did nothing against him (it?).

"Fuck!  _ Bombarda Maxima _ !" Daphne screamed, putting all her magic into the spell. That did the trick - the Argus-Monster stumbled forward towards the railings before completely falling over, screaming loudly as it fell onto the ground before quieting. Panting, she slid against the wall just as a stair connected to the floor.

"Daphne, are you okay?" Emma asked worriedly, rushing to her side as Potter quickly followed. "Help her, please!"

Potter wordlessly crouched before her, handing a small red bottle. "Rejuvenating Potion," he said as he pulled out a silver spray can with a light green label from his pouch. "Hold still."

She drank the potion as Potter sprayed the can, slowly becoming energized before realizing the scratches and bruises she got from her fight were fading already, if not outright disappearing. "Morgana's Dress, what is this?" Daphne asked in wonder, checking her arms for any wounds and finding none.

"First Aid Spray, one of the few good things that came out of Umbrella." Potter replied, sitting down before fishing out two thin, purple packages and offered it to them. "Here, in case you two are hungry."

Emma, looking like she was familiar with it, squealed in delight before tearing the package quickly to eat. "What was that?" Daphne asked, pocketing the bar. "It...it looked like Filch."

The Gryffindor actually flinched, Emma looking at her in shock. "That was daddy?" she asked fearfully.

Before she could respond, Potter discreetly shook his head. "No, your father was in the Great Hall before I left." he lied, making her narrow eyes towards him. "He asked me asked me to look for you and bring you back there."

' _ Potter's lying - that's a first.' _ Daphne thought but didn't call him out - unlike most Slytherins, she wasn't callous with feelings. "I want straight answers, Potter." she began, giving him a hard stare. "What's happening, Potter? I barely got out of Hogsmeade alive and I was separated from Fleur when we got attacked by some badly transfigured creatures."

"Fleur's here?"

She nodded. "She said to call the French Ministry and tell them 'Gondor calls for aid', while making sure you're with me." she recalled before sighing. "Damnit Potter, what's going on?"

Potter stayed quiet before moving to sit beside her. "A Slytherin alumnus by the name of Mary Spencer began experimenting on the muggle biochemical weapon known as the T- and G-Viruses, making magical versions of them. Think Dragonpox but weaponized and turns anyone infected into inferi."

"That's how Fleur explained to me earlier." Daphne replied, getting a nod from him. "I think it already infected Hogsmeade. One of the villagers tried to attack me, looking pale and bloodied."

"Fuck…" Potter cursed, removing something from the thingy before replacing it. "Anyway, Spencer's holding Hogwarts hostage while we play test subjects for her magical Bio Organic Weapons - BOWs in short."

Before she could ask why her, the three of them heard a loud, inhumane roar. Granted, it sounded far away as of the moment but it was still enough for Potter and her to tense up. "Come on, we got to move." Potter ordered, standing up and dusting his pants. "I'll tell you more along the way."

"Where exactly are we going?" Daphne asked as she stood up, getting Emma's hand as she followed the Gryffindor's lead. Before he could reply, the stairs Potter was on quickly shifted away from them. To her surprise, he threw the slingbag towards them, with Emma barely catching it.

"Head for the Owlery!" he shouted as the stairs went down towards. "I'll meet you there!"

The Slytherin growled in frustration as the only person who knew what was going went further away. "Are...are you okay, Daphne?" Emma asked nervously, clutching Potter's sling bag.

Smiling weakly, she ruffled Emma's short hair. "I think so," she replied as she stood up. "Now come on, let's see if we can beat Potter to the Owlery."

"Do you know my Daddy?" the child asked as the two began walking the deserted second floor corridor.

"Well…" Daphne began, not knowing how to proceed with the topic of Argus Filch. Granted, most students (her included) despised the old man but she knew he had reason to despise them as well, given the daily mayhem her fellow students unleashed. But after finding out the man had a daughter… "Everyone knows him…but he doesn't like us that much."

"Oh, that's because he doesn't have magic to clean up your messes." Emma revealed, not noticing the fifth year widen her eyes. "That's why I only ask him to read me a bedtime story every other week so he can rest because he's always tired and grumpy whenever he's home."

' _ Filch's a Squib?' _ Daphne thought, surprised. No wonder the caretaker was always grumbling and asking the students to watch their messes. "Oh, uh...I didn't know that." she answered lamely.

Emma, bless her innocent heart and soul, waved her off. "Well now you do." she pointed out, smiling brightly. "How about you? Does your daddy still read you bedtime stories?"

"No, but I read bedtime stories to my sister whenever...whenever she gets really sick." Daphne replied, though 'getting sick' was putting it mildly. Astoria was unfortunately stuck with a curse an ancestor tried to fix, turning the Maledictus into a blood malediction instead of curing it.

"She's sick to?" Emma asked worriedly as they reached the stairs to the first floor. "I hope she's okay and she isn't sick as I am."

"Oh?" she asked, the older girl's wand at the ready. "What kind of sickness do you have? You look healthy to me."

"I don't know what it's called but daddy said I might become an animal like Mrs. Norris." Emma said nonchalantly as Daphne paused. "Don't worry, Uncle Jonny said he's looking for something that'll make me better because Daddy said that Mommy made Uncle Jonny swear to look for one!"

' _ Emma's a maledictus.' _ the Slytherin thought sadly, staring at the child before her. "That's...that's great!" Daphne replied weakly, not wanting to crush the child's hope. "I'm sure he's a great wizard."

"He is!" Emma answered happily, brightening up as they reached the first floor (still empty, much to her relief).

' _ I may not like you, Filch, but I promise you I'm going to make Emma's life wonderful before she becomes an animal.' _ Daphne vowed as she half-listened to the little cursed girl blabber on about how awesome and smart 'Uncle Jonny' was.

**# # # # # # # # # #**

They were crossing the Entrance Hall, heading for the Owlery, when Daphne spotted it.

Before that, she and Emma tried to unsuccessfully open the Great Hall's doors - the Slytherin even tried a variety of spells (from standard spells to the...darker ones she knew) just to open it. Giving up, she turned to Emma. "Well, looks like you're going with me, squirt."

Emma beamed happily, warming Daphne's heart. "Thank you for trying, Daphne." the five-year-old replied. "At least daddy's safe."

Her smile straining, Daphne nodded weakly. "Yeah…"  _ 'Damnit Potter, you better give me answers once we meet.' _ she thought darkly as she grabbed Emma's hand, leading her into the Entrance Hall. "Come on then, let's cut through the courtyard."

Halfway across it, the doors of the Entrance Hall were forcibly opened and made the two girls turn towards it. Standing by the entrance was an ogre in some sophisticated black coat, it's scary face devoid of emotion as it turned its head slowly towards them. Without a word, Emma and Daphne knew they were prey and immediately broke into a run, the Ogre chasing them.

Upon entering the Quad hallway, Emma screamed as the Argus-Monster burst through the doorway of the Grand Staircase. Swearing, she practically dragged Emma through the Quad courtyard and headed straight for the archway leading to the Lake Viaduct and the boathouse.

Looking back as they reached the bridge, Daphne saw the Argus-Monster appear by the archway they had come through...only to be thrown sideways as the Ogre pushed past it. " _ Bombarda _ !" she casted to the Ogre before running across the Lake Bridge. To her horror, the Ogre jump from the archway and landed midpoint, blocking their path as gigantic cracks appeared underneath it.

Ironically, the Argus-Monster bought them time when it apparated before the Ogre, stalling it as the two backed away. Thinking quickly, Daphne leaned forward the bridge's railings, pointed her wand at its supports, and casted two Blasting Curses with all magic she could muster.

Her plan worked, five viaduct supports exploded and caused the bridge to collapse, bringing the two monsters along with then. Exhaling, she began to chuckle as slid to the floor as an absurd thought passed her mind. "Why are you laughing, Daphne?" Emma asked, confused.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble after this." she explained in between chuckles, causing Emma to blink before giggling. Suddenly, the girl clutched her stomach, crying in pain. "Emma!"

"It...it hurts, Daphne! Make it stop!" she cried out, rolling on the floor. Not knowing any medical spells (blame her aunt), the Slytherin spotted Potter's bag. Eyes widening, she began rummaging it as Emma whimpered besides her. Thankfully, the Gryffindor had the foresight to label his bottles and easy-to-remember colors because there were  _ a lot  _ of them in it (why Potter needed this much, she'd have to ask him later).

' _ No, no, not that, why does he have this, n-yes!' _ she thought happily, picking up the grayish bottle labeled 'Poppy's Milk'. "Here Emma, drink this." the fifth year coached the young girl, dripping tiny drops onto her mouth. "Come on, come on...there we go."

Slowly, a peaceful expression replaced the pained one Emma wore, telling Daphne she was now sleeping. Sighing in relief, she suddenly blushed when she felt her stomach growl in hunger.  _ 'Cadbury Dairy Milk…' _ she read as she brought out the chocolate bar Potter had given her earlier before opening it and taking a bite.  _ 'Huh, this is good!' _

After finishing it, she stood up and levitated Emma from the ground. "Right…" she muttered, pursing her lips. "Time to go to Owlery."  _ 'Let's hope I don't meet anymore of the monsters.' _

Thankfully, her journey to the Owlery was uneventful except for the strange, far away growls and moans she kept on hearing as she entered the northwestern part of the castle. Quickening her pace, she reached the Owlery's stairs when she started hearing two familiar voices. "...contact to the Ministry!" she heard Fleur's voice say urgently.

"I know!" Potter responded angrily just as she entered the hallway toward the Owlery. "Greengrass!"

"Potter, Fleur!" she replied happily, smiling in relief as she levitated Emma back on the ground before hugging her French friend. Upon seeing the young girl, Potter knelt beside the child gave her a worried look. "I gave her some Poppy's Milk from the bag. She just...I don't know what happened - one minute she was okay then she started groaning in pain."

"Did anything bit her?" he asked, looking worried. "Or at least scratched her?"

Daphne bit her lip. "I...I honestly don't know," she replied, shoulders slagging. "I had to rescue Emma from some creature then we got chased by a transformed Flinch before stumbling into you. After the fiasco at the Stairway, none of the monsters that chased us manage to land a hit on her."

"Could it be that the Chimera had bitten or scratched her before you rescued her?" Fleur asked, arms crossed as Daphne shot her a confused look. "That creature that forced us to separate, Harry calls it a Chimera."

"It's not like I'm naming them, Spencer's calling the shots here." Potter replied grimly. Suddenly, a muffled ring caused him to pull out a small, grayish box with a glowing glass. His lips thinning, he waits for another ring (much louder this time) before pressing the boxy thing. "Hello?"

"That's a mobile, in case you're wondering. It's a portable floo fireplace that muggles use." Fleur whispers to her, Potter frowning heavily. "Harry's talking to someone via that thing on his right ear."

Spotting the black thing attached to Potter's ear, Daphne noticed that the Gryffindor started growling before pressing something at the…mobile thing. "If you want Emma, you're going to have to ask Greengrass nicely." Potter growled, bring the boxy thing near her. "She's the one taking care of your 'niece' so if she says yes, I'll do it."

"Greengrass, I don't have much time but you have to bring Emma to the seventh floor." a voice coming out of the mobile said, surprising the pureblood. "Knock on the wall opposite the painting of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet."

"Say something," Potter whispers to her urgently.

"Can the voice even hear me?" she asked rhetorically, shooting an incredulous look at him. "I don't have that thing in your ear, Potter."

"The voice can hear you, damnit!" the mobile replied, making her yelp in surprise. "Please Greengrass, you need to bring Emma to the seventh floor!"

"Who exactly are you?" Fleur asked, crossing her arms.

"My name is John Watson," the voice replied, making the Slytherin realize who he was "I'm-"

"You're Emma's 'Uncle Jonny'!" she cut, getting surprised looks from the two. "Emma told me about herself as we headed down earlier. She mentioned you made a promise to her mother that you'll cure her Maledictus."

The box was quiet for a moment. "Ever the blabbermouth, Emma was." Watson replied with nostalgia before sounding serious again. "Please, bring Emma to the seventh floor and I'll help you with anything you need!"

"Alright," she replied, getting a questioning look from Potter. "See you soon, Watson."

The boxy thing stopped glowing and Potter pocketed it. "I don't like this," he grumbled, giving her a look.

"I don't like it either, Potter, but what choice do we have?" Daphne countered, rubbing her temple. "With Madam Pomfrey in the Great Hall, we can either roam around the castle bring an unconscious Emma with us or do as Watson's says."

"Daphne is right, Harry." Fleur added, looking at the two. "But we must be careful about this as well - for all we know, Watson works for Spencer."

"Agreed." Potter and Daphne said simultaneously. "Do we have to leave now?" she asked, still feeling tired from the earlier fight. "I've been running around ever since I got to the castle with only little rest in between."

"Not a bad idea," Potter conceded, sitting down with his back against the wall. Daphne and Fleur copied him, the Slytherin sighing in relief as her legs finally got some rest.

"I've been meaning to ask, Potter," she said as he inspected the tube-like object in his hands. "What are you holding?"

"It's a shotgun - W-870, to be precise." he replied, making a  _ chung chung _ sound out of it. "It's a muggle weapon that acts like an Exploding Charm."

Fleur snorted, looking amused. "More like a Blasting Curse, Harry - that thing turned the Chimera's head into paste." the French countered as she fished out the thingy Daphne saw her use back in Hogsmeade. "My Manurhin MR73 and your Samurai Edge are the closest analogy to an Exploding Charm, not the W-870."

"Why are you even using them?" the witch asked, confused. "A wand would have been a better option, right?"

Her French friend shook her head, looking sad. "In some cases, yes. However, the bioterror attack near Beauxbatons made us realize that some of the muggle weaponry was far more superior in killing the BOWs that appeared."

"I take it the French Ministry covered up the whole thing?" Potter asked. "I have friends in the BSAA and I know they didn't receive any call for help from the French Government."

Fleur gave Potter a flat look. "I had to trigger an avalanche just to stop the infection from spreading." she revealed, making the two gape at her. "By the time they arrived, there was nothing to stop."

"Merlin, Fleur, I'm sorry…" Daphne replied, feeling horrified. Things must have been truly desperate if her friend had to start an avalanche to stop it.  _ 'Would we be forced to do that here as well?' _

"It's the reason why I'm here, actually. The French Ministry approached MACUSA discretely after the outbreak, asking for any help in case something like this happens again." she said, snorting. "Instead, President Quahog told us to look for you instead since you were one of the few wizard to survive the Racoon City Outbreak and had ties to the BSAA, making magical introductions easier."

"You should have contacted the BSAA right away," Potter replied as he removed something from the Samurai Edge (as Fleur had called it earlier). "They've known about magic since their creation back in 2003 and have contingency plans in case there was an outbreak in a magical place."

"Wait," Daphne blurted, frowning. "That's illegal!"

The Gryffindor Golden Boy gave her an infuriating smirk. "According to Clause 20 of the Statute, it isn't." he replied as he stood up. "Break time's over let's get moving before any of Spencer's creatures catches up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, hope you like the second chapter of RE: Devolution as well as the appearance of Daphne Greengrass!
> 
> I hope you readers like my portrayal of sweet and caring Daphne. Some of you might cry foul that she isn't portrayed correctly like in other stories revolving her but the problem is, JK Rowling never gave her any personality or immediate background besides being the sister of Astoria Malfoy - in fact, her appearance in other fandom stories (blond hair, blue eyes) was a product of the fans and not the author.
> 
> Regarding the monsters so far:  
> 1) Argus Filch: as you saw in the previous chapter, Filch is our G for this story. Alongside the usual powers of G, you've noticed that he can also do short-apparations as well as spell resistance - batting a Blasting Curse is kind of scary, don't you think?
> 
> 2) T-Mage infected: I originally had the house elves be the regular infected by making them mutate horribly but then I realized that Hogsmeade was nearby so there you go!
> 
> 3) Chimera: In case anyone's wondering, these are the Centaurs that lives near the school. If you have trouble picturing them, search U-3 in the RE wiki and you'll understand why I made it so.
> 
> 4) Ogre: Well…I'll leave this up for you to guess.


	3. Harry and Daphne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**  
>  Flashback - **# # # | # # #**  
>  Speaking - "Word"  
> Thoughts - _'Word'_  
>  Spells - _Word_

September 1, 2005 | 1800 Hours | Ground Floor, Hogwarts Castle

' _Me and my big mouth…'_

"By Morgana, there's two of them?" Greengrass exclaimed, sounding pissed.

"Fleur, Greengrass, I'll buy you time, go!" Harry ordered quickly, slinging his shotgun and pulling out his pistol as the Tyrant began to walk towards them. "GO!"

Without a word, the two immediately ran, Emma's sleeping form flying before them as they headed for the Quad. Pulling a flashbang, he quickly threw it towards the Mr. X wannabe before shielding his eyes. Staggering, the Tyrant fell on one knee as Harry began shooting it. Annoyed, it rose to full height before walking briskly towards him. With the attention fully secured towards him, he dashed towards the other corridor trying to lure it away from the girls. "You gonna give it me, Mr. X?" he taunted at the slow, lumbering Tyrant, smirking as he quickly holstered his weapon.

Suddenly, something pounced on him from behind. Quickly, he twisted and used his right elbow to knock the attacker away. "Fuck!" Harry swore as found the entire corridor filled with zombies. _'Must be the Hogsmeade villagers.'_ he thought sourly, recalling Greengrass' remarks. He immediately drew out his wand and casted the Wind Gale Jinx at the zombie-filled corridor, knocking the zombies down and allowing him to quickly dash across, jumping over them just as Mr. X rounded around the corner.

" _Ventus Tria_!" he casted this time, pushing back Mr. X and made some of the zombies fly off. Canceling it, he immediately made a mad dash towards the door Mr. X came in and closed it. He began casting a multitude of charms, wishing he had these when he back in Racoon City.

**# # # | # # #**

"Sherry," eight-year-old Harry asked quietly to his twelve-year-old cousin Sherry Birkins as they hid in some sort of rooms with controls. "Do...do you think that thing is still after us?"

"I don't know, Harry." Sherry replied worriedly, the hum of the machinery filling in the silence. "I don't know."

It had been 10 days since Harry and the Dursley arrived in Racoon City to visit Aunt Petunia's cousin, William Birkins. Ever since Harry barely survived a bout of pneumonia, Aunt Pet started treating Harry much nicer (a far cry from the arm's length she and the rest of the family used to do) and started reaching out to a distant cousin in the states.

When Grunnings sent Uncle Vernon to Racoon City to discuss the Umbrella Corporation's need of drills, the entire family decided to go as well to meet with the Birkins. Though there was slight nervousness between the adults, Dudley, Sherry, and Harry hit off pretty well. Unfortunately, Harry got sick the day before the family's planned outing to the neighboring state.

Thankfully, Annette, William's wife, offered to take care of Harry while he recovered and Harry even urged Aunt Pet to go, joking it'll be the first Dursley trip without him in tow. After whacking him in the head and telling him he'll always be part of the family, the Dursley left for their trip - just in time, because the following day the city slowly dissolved into chaos.

Then things got even stranger.

When Sherry's house was invaded on the third night, the two locked themselves up in her room and feared for the worse. Suddenly, when the door broke down and the zombie entered the room, Sherry and Harry found themselves in front of the Racoon Police Department, being shuffled in by the police officers alongside survivors.

Too relieved, the two didn't question what happened and were happy that they manage to get out. Unfortunately, the police station was also overrun some days later, where some sort of monster started chasing after them - they barely escaped into door that miraculously appeared out of nowhere that lead them to where they are right now.

"Wait, did you hear that?" Sherry asked, perking up as she heard footsteps coming towards them. Peeking out, Harry saw a lady in a red jacket holding a gun. She neared the doorway of the room they were in, blocked only by a fallen locker and tried to prop it up. "Won't budge," they heard her mutter as Sherry moved behind the boxes before the door, the jacket lady spotting her.

"Hello?" the lady asked, shining a light towards her. "Hey...it's okay. I won't hurt you - I promise."

Harry crawled slowly towards Sherry, getting the lady's attention. "Do you need help?" she asked, looking worried. "Here, you can take my hand."

Spotting their stalker, Harry shook his head. "You...need...help…" he whispered.

"I'm sorry, I can't understand you." she replied, looking confused.

"You...y-you need help," Sherry repeated shakily, pointing to the monster looming behind her. "He's right behind you!"

**# # # | # # #**

Feeling the N70 ring, Harry sighed as answered. "What do you want, Spencer." he asked, walking briskly away from the doors, heading around the Northern Towers.

Spencer laughed. "No, just to congratulate you." she replied, sounding pleased. "Your combat performance against the Trynorg was splendid - who knew a Hurricane Jinx was enough to stall one!"

"You mean Mr. X?"

"Oh yes, I manage to get my hands on an adolescent ogre and gave it the genes of a Tyrant Model-001 - the same model that was chasing you back in Racoon." she explained, giggling. "Like what I did to them?"

"Fuck you, Spencer." he replied monotonously as he holstered his wand and brought up the shotgun.

"Better watch out for the Polishers, Harry dear!" she exclaimed in a sing-song manner before ending the call.

Immediately, Harry went on guard. No doubt one of Spencer's creations was nearby - Polisher, if he heard correctly. _'What are they?'_ he wondered to himself, the moon illuminating the fields before the Quidditch Pitch. As he made his way around the tower, something hard slammed into his back, causing him to crash on the ground face-forward.

Turning around, Harry swore as a Licker - or what looked like a Licker - jumped towards him. Pointing his shotgun at it, he pulled the trigger and fired. "I gotta love the goblin upgrades…" he muttered as the Licker's head turned to paste, pumping his shotgun to eject the shell. It may have cost him quite a lot but Harry didn't care - the W-870 he held was not the same thing Leon used to protect himself back in 1998. Still keeping the original format, the shotgun now sported acceleration runes within the barrel, activating whenever something would pass them, accelerating it to the speed of sound - turning the W-870 into a ballistic railgun.

Inspecting the creature, he noticed while it looked like a Licker, it was spiny, pale-looking, undeveloped muscles, and elongated fingers and toes. One thing that did get Harry's attention was the bat-like ears it had, how small it was, and why was it clothed in a piece of - _'Oh you have got to be kidding me…'_

He quickly answers his phone when it rang. "You made the House Elves Lickers." he stated angrily.

"Ten points to Gryffindor!" Spencer exclaimed, howling in laughter. "And they're called Polishers, FYI. I think their inherent personality of making things clean carried over because when I dropped a cow into their holding pen, all that was left were bones - fully polished bones. Have fun fighting them, Harry dear!"

The call ended and the Racoon City survivor started hearing loud pops and low growls behind him. Slowly turning around, he spotted about a dozen Polishers scattered throughout the field. _'Let's even the odds, shall we.'_ Harry thought, smirking. " _Expulso_!"

The Expulsion Curse did the trick, making the nearby Polishers fly off. Five of the ones that escaped it immediately ran, intent on pouncing on him. Bearing the shotgun towards them, he blew two of the Polisher's head off and tore the arm of the other before dropping on the ground, the Polisher missing him by a few inches. Quickly drawing his wand out, he casted a Shield Charm in front of him before rolling to fire another two rounds at the Polisher behind him, tearing the leg and head off. _'Two shells left.'_ he thought as he ejected the spent shell. Suddenly, he was tackled on the ground by a Polisher, his shotgun the only thing blocking it from biting his head off.

' _This is going to hurt.'_ With no alternative, Harry focused his magic onto left hand to form a glowing blue ball of energy before immediately smashing it onto the Polisher's face, killing it. Throwing the body off him, he immediately shot his last two shells at another Polisher that was about to jump on him.

Setting the shotgun aside, he drew Samurai Edge and his wand out, dual wielding the two as the remaining seven Polisher attacked. " _Bombarda_!" he casted, blowing up a Polisher to pieces before firing his pistol at another. "I should have gotten a revolver!"

He immediately rolled sideways, dodging the tongue of a slightly smarter Polisher before casting a Blasting Curse at it. Realizing he was out of ammo, he threw his wand upwards, ejected his pistol's clip, slapped in a new one, and caught his wand again before firing both at two Polishers trying to sandwich him, killing them.

It seemed the last two Polishers were at least smarter than their companions, circling Harry from opposite ends as he watched them warily. _'I'm having a Mexican Dust-off with BOWs, how cool.'_ he thought sarcastically.

Quickly, the two pounced at the same time towards him. Without thinking, he casted a quick Gale Jinx on the ground in front of him, making him fly backwards while the two Polishers smashed into each other. " _Incendio Maximus_!" he casted at the two, filling the air with burning flesh and dying screams as he reloaded and holstered his weapons.

Picking up his shotgun, the Caterwauling Charm was set off, making him grimace. "Great…" Harry muttered, running towards the entrance near the Owlery. _'Looks like Mr. X's is coming…'_

Making sure the corridor was clear, he closed the doors before casting the same spells he did with the earlier door. Once done, he began to reload his shotgun while heading for the Grand Staircase, staying alert so he won't run into any other of Spencer's creations.

Turning right upon reaching the Quad, he decided to take the stairs near the Study Room, having an inkling that Spencer was somehow controlling the Grand Staircase to funnel him towards any of her BOWs. "Potter!" a voice behind him shouted. Quickly pointing his shotgun, Harry relaxed as Greengrass ran towards him.

"Oh, it's you." Harry replied, relieved as he lowered his gun. "How are you still here?"

"The stairs separated Fleur and I when we reached the fourth floor, then all the stairs were rearranged to lead only downwards." she replied, looking annoyed. "I swear it's as if someone's making sure we get separated."

"You're not the only one," he replied as the two fell into steps, climbing the West Wing's stairs. "Before I left the Great Hall, Spencer made some remarks that she had control over Hogwarts' wards. At the rate we're encountering her creations, I'm inclined to believe her."

"I thought the Headmaster has control over it?" Greengrass asked, frowning.

"She said something about hacking the ward system."

The Slytherin looked at him weirdly as they reached the first floor. "She chopped the wards and replaced it with her own?"

"What, no! Hacking is a new muggle-" he cut himself when the floor's torches were snuffed out, covering them in darkness. Greengrass immediately casted a Wand-Lighting Charm as Harry slung his shotgun behind him and brought out his pistol and two torches. "Here, use this."

She arched an eyebrow. "Potter, I have a light."

"And what happens when you have to fight?" he countered, smirking as she huffed before grabbing the torch. "Press the black button and hold it like this."

Once Greengrass was holding it properly, he shined his forward. "I'll take point," he ordered quietly. "Watch the back, will you."

Taking great care now, the two remained silent as they slowly marched up the stairs, reaching the third floor quickly without incident. "It's quiet Potter," she muttered behind him, enough for him to hear. "Too quiet…"

Suddenly, she yelped as fell to the ground, face first. Turning quickly, he spotted a long tongue dragging her away and opened fired upon spotting the Polisher. Quickly scrambling away from them, Greengrass snatched her wand and fired a Fire-Wall Charm to scare them away. "Go!" he shouted before crying out in pain as a flaming tongue pierced his right shoulder.

" _Confrigo_ ! _Bombarda_!" she casted, blowing the Polisher up as Harry propped himself to the wall. Once making sure that the creature was dead, she knelt beside Harry. "Potter, give me your - what the…"

"Surprised?" he replied with a smirk as he could feel the puncture wound slowly healing, rolling it once it was closed.

"Wha-how?"

"Remember what I said about the T- and G-Viruses?" Harry asked, getting a nod from her. "My cousin and I got infected by the G."

"But...but your still here!" Greengrass exclaimed, looking cute when confused.

Harry nodded grimly. "Yeah, it was touch and go for a few hours but thankfully, Claire and Annette manage to make a cure for the two of us. Not an easy task for Claire - especially given the lab was already overrun and we were on a timetable but...Sherry and I are still alive and kicking"

Standing up, she gave him a critical look as she helped him stand. "But what has that got to do with it?"

Reloading his pistol, Harry sighed. "The cure didn't completely remove the virus, suppressing it enough for the body to adapt it." he replied, cocking it. "Somehow, Sherry's and mine manage to get healing abilities out of it."

"Is…is there any chance for the virus to…pop up again?"

Harry shrugged. "The test checks out negative every year, so no for now." he explained, seeing her confused look. "Since Sherry and I were the only known survivors of G, we know next to nothing about its aftereffects - that's why we regularly check ourselves and look for abnormalities. In fact, the Potter line might end with me since I'm not even sure what my kids may end up with."

"You think they might infect your children." she stated, understanding in her eyes.

"Yeah…it's a shame actually, I always wanted a large family - I'll probably ask the Weasley's if I can be an honorary uncle to any of their children." he joked as they reached the Grand Staircase. It really was his dream to have a large family - don't get him wrong, the Dursleys would always be family to him but…he wanted to be a dad, to spoil his kids (emphasis on the _s_ ) rotten every Christmas and birthday, the likes. With remnants of G in his blood, Harry's dream was crushed and forced him to settle on becoming the 'bestest uncle in the whole wide world' (a title he held ever since he started helping out Terra Save's orphanage).

As the two climbed the stairs to the seventh floor, Greengrass spoke up. "You're not the only one, Potter."

He looked at her, feeling confused. "My sister, Astoria, is sick because of a family curse." she explained, the stairs stiff and unmoving. "A blood malediction was born out of an attempt to remove the Maledictus Curse on our family that targets the second child of the Greengrass family."

"Everything was fine after I was born - Auntie Sansa dotted me, my parents spoiled me, and I knew I was going to have only one child...until my mother got pregnant with Tori. Oh, I resented Tori for three years - not only did she steal my spotlight but forced mother to get sick."

She laughed humorlessly. "I was three years old when I became a brat, throwing tantrums, trying to hurt my sister, and everything else in between mother dying slowly. Auntie let me express my emotions until I was six before making me sit down and straight up asked me 'Bitch, who's happiness do you care for - yours or your mother?'"

"Holy shit." he muttered. His face must have been funny because Greengrass laughed loudly.

"You should see your face, Potter. You looked like a merman out of water." she exclaimed, her mood lifting up. "But yeah, she asked me that."

"So, what did you answer?"

"Oh, I never got to answer the question." Greengrass replied, smirking. "She began telling me how she was in a similar boat: how she hated mother for being the focus of my family, how she found out that mother hated her for being the healthy Greengrass, how she decided to become the best sister anyone would ask for.

"I was too stunned to reply as Auntie expressed all her feelings before leaving me to my thoughts. After that, I became the best sister Tori could ask for - care for her, protected her, loved her. I'm actually studying the Dark Arts just so I can protect my sister and any of her children."

Sighing, Greengrass turned towards him. "The point is, Potter, I understand what you're going through right now." she explained, her beautiful blue eyes boring deep into him. "You're not the only one with skeletons to hide."

The two stared at each, a small smile forming on their lips. "Look at us, two teenagers with the world upon our shoulders." Harry replied, chuckling. "Thanks Greengrass, for sharing."

She gave him a curt nod. "Come on," she ordered. "I think Fleur's tearing her hair waiting for us."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

2010 Hours | Seventh Floor, Hogwarts Castle

"Hello?" Daphne shouted as she and Potter stood before the frozen painting of Barnabas the Barmy. "Watson?"

"Think Fleur got sidetracked?" Potter asked, his shotgun at the ready as he stood guard behind her. The two had just arrived at the location Watson had ordered them to go, finding nothing showing a hint of a door anywhere. After their impromptu heart to heart, the tension between them lessened - it didn't make them best friends but...she had a feeling he no longer viewed her as a bullying Slytherin that Malfoy's actions painted them to be but as a person he could trust.

"No," Daphne argued, shaking her head. "By the time I reached the ground floor, Fleur shoot red sparks as she reached the seventh."

Before Potter could reply, the wall behind them disappeared, revealing a heavy metal door. Their weapon/wand immediately pointed towards it as it opened sideways, revealing a relieved Fleur behind it. "Quick," she urged them hurriedly, motioning them to enter. "A Trynorg is just around the corner!"

Without a beat, the two entered as the door closed behind them. Daphne couldn't help but gasped at the beautiful interior they had just entered - elegant white walls with polished black floors, fixtures that gave light to the entire place, looking like the corridors of St. Mungos but far cleaner and orderly. "Where are we?" she asked in wonder.

"Watson's lab." Fleur replied, smirking. "Come, he's waiting for us at Floor 3."

"I doubt the Founders made this room," Potter pointed out, inspecting the place. "I mean, have you seen Hogwarts?"

Daphne had to agree with that. The corridors they walked felt too modern, metallic like the Tube she took whenever Tracy invited her to explore London - it was as if the walls were just bolted in like some puzzle being made. "He's right," she added, still mesmerized by the architecture. "It feels so...muggle!"

Potter snorted. "Yeah, reminds me of nest." he said, looking around.

Daphne shot him a weird look. "Potter, this isn't a nest." she deadpanned. "In fact, this isn't even a tree."

"Wha-oh, I meant N-E-S-T!" he clarified, chuckling. "It was an Umbrella underground lab in Racoon City where Sherry and I got the cure for G."

Nodding, it struck her that it was probably the nth time Potter mentioned Racoon City or his cousin Sherry. "It always boils back to Racoon City, doesn't it?" she asked him as they went down another set of stairs. "I've lost count how many times you've mentioned that city."

Scoffing, he gave her a look. "Racoon City was the start of something terrible." he replied grimly. "It's like Voldemort killing every single person in Hogwarts while not being able to stop it."

Daphne winced at his blatant used of You-Know-Who's name. "Don't say his name," she whispered, getting a roll of eyes from Potter.

"It's just a name."

"A name with a Taboo." she bit back. Seeing Potter's confused look, she explained "Back in the war, anyone who uses the name will make him appear - even the strongest wards will break once you utter his name."

Understanding dawned in his face. "So people developed a fear of the name…" he said, looking surprised. "Even after his death, people fear he'll pop up if you say it."

Daphne nodded before realizing they had reached Floor 3. "This doesn't look like a floor, Fleur." she said, awe in her voice as she looked about the room.

Before them was a large, two-story wide room the size of the Potions Lab, filled with white humming machinery, long tables filled with what looked like brewing equipment, and large black screens she saw commonly in Muggle London with pictures and words of…something, pieces of small, colorful papers stuck to them.

"Daphne!" a familiar voice shouted happily. She turned in time to catch a squealing Emma crashed into her, making her stumble a bit. "You're here!"

"Emma, you're ok!" she exclaimed, surprised yet happy. She really was - she didn't notice it earlier but when they left Potter to fend off the Ogre, Emma was paling and feeling hot. "What happened?"

"Suppressant Charlie activated," a deep, baritone voice replied. Looking up, Daphne saw a large man with mousy brown hair and a hint of a beard present walk towards them. "When her Maledictus acted up. It worked successfully but it did cause some minor reaction in Emma."

"Daphne, this is Uncle Jonny!" Emma introduced, smiling. If it wasn't for the blue eyes or hair color they share, she wouldn't have guessed they were related. "I told you he's going to cure my sickness!"

"H-how?" she exclaimed, shocked. The entire magical world already knew that there were curses that couldn't be broken, the Maledictus being one of them - even an aunt of hers barely succeeded. Yet here stood a man who managed to _suppress_ a century-old curse. "The…the Maledictus is supposed to be unbreakable!"

Watson snort, giving her a condescending look. "That's because you purebloods don't think outside the box." he replied dismissively. "No imagination whatsoever, always looking to the past."

Daphne was floored, not used to getting replied like that - may be in an angry tone, but this…this was new. Thankfully, Potter must have sensed her uneasy, drawing the attention back to the subject. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he motioned them to follow him, moving in the same manner Professor Snape would dismiss the Gryffindors. "What was that all about?" Potter asked her quietly.

"I don't know," she whispered back, still staring at Watson, Emma sticking by her and grabbed her hand. Smiling at the gesture, she ruffled the girl's hair. "I guess you missed me, huh?"

Emma nodded happily. "Yeah!" she replied, smiling widely. "I remember you telling me to drink something then I woke up here, Uncle Jonny smiling. I asked for you and he said that you were heading here with Mr. Harry, but you got delayed by some monster and that Ms. Fleur was watching over you."

"You were watching us?" Potter asked her French friend, who blushed.

"Watson has a security room on the second floor. I don't know how but it tracks both your movements and that of selected BOWs - and yes, I did hear your heart-to-heart earlier." she explained, grinning as Daphne blushed as Emma's uncle stopped before a wide screen showing two similar structures of a colorful ladder twisted multiple times.

"Tell me, what do you see?" Watson asked, crossing his arms as they formed a semi-circle around him. Fleur leaned on the nearby counter while she and Potter grabbed the nearby stools, Emma sitting on the Slytherin's lap.

"They're DNA," Potter replied, tilting his head. "What's so special about them?"

"Err…isn't the DNA some kind of internal vault that keeps our, uh, medical past?" Fleur asked, looking at Potter and Watson. "A friend of my tried explaining it to me once."

"Something like that," Watson explained, shrugging. "Simply put it, it is a book that contains all your recipes to build every single part of your body - down to the very last detail. They contain parts of your parents DNA, embedded in you when you were formed in the womb."

"I know what a DNA is but what has that got to do with all of this?" Potter asked, looking confused. At least he had some sort of idea, Daphne couldn't even follow a single word of what they were talking about.

"Tell me," he asked, completely ignoring his questions. "Can you see any difference between the two?"

Having been staring at the picture far longer than Fleur and Potter, Daphne saw the difference and pointed the one on his right. "There, that dee-n-aye has an extra…uh, ladder ring - the other one doesn't have one."

Watson gave her an annoyed stare. "Congratulations, a pureblood managed to not openly gape at a muggle object and answer correctly." he drawled out, narrowing his eyes at her. "Pat yourself on the back, will you?"

' _What's his problem?'_ she thought, feeling annoyed. It's as if she wasn't worth his time and belittles her every chance he got - actions that felt strangely familiar yet she couldn't tell where she'd seen it.

"As our pureblood graciously pointed out, the DNA on the right has an additional pair not found on the left DNA." Watson explained, tapping on the right picture. "Because that's the DNA of a magical human."

Potter shot him an incredulous look, even a surprised Fleur leaned in closer. "Are you telling us that you have mapped out a Wizard's DNA?" the French asked, turning her head towards him. "And that particular thing is what separates a muggle and a magical DNA?"

When he nodded, Potter gave a low whistle. "Damn…" he muttered, looking impressed. "I know they just managed to map out the DNA but Merlin, this is impressive."

"I have mapped fully mapped the Magical DNA for the past two years - but let's not focus on that matter." he continued, encircling something on the screen and enlarged it. "Now, tell me what do you see?"

This time, Fleur was the one who spotted it. "This one," she pointed out. "The Muggle DNA always pairs the strand as Red-Green and Blue-Yellow - never Green-Blue or Yellow-Red."

Watson nodded, grinning. "I'll spare you the scientific terms but the thing about Magical DNA is it's gender specific - the Green-Blue pair is always found in a Wizard's DNA while the Yellow-Red is for a Witch's DNA."

"But what does that pair mean? Does it give us magic?" Potter asked, only to get a nod from the doctor. "Wait, you're serious?"

"I am." he replied, looking serious. "Conventional science states that the two pairing is impossible - they don't have the correct bonding pairs to begin with but for some reason, something forces them to bond."

"Uh...this is nice and all, but what does this actually mean?" Daphne asked, feeling embarrassed. Watson was trying to point out something and she had no idea what that point was. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Obviously, you're a pureblood." Watson commented dryly, giving her an indifferent look. By now, Fleur was looking uncomfortable while Potter was narrowing his eyes at the doctor. "I'm explaining this to you because it heavily focuses on the next topic."

Swiping the screen, Watson brought back another DNA. "This is Emma's DNA but I want you to focus on the Yellow-Red pair." he said, pointing to it. Looking closely, Daphne noticed there was something black that connected the Yellow and Red strands to each other. "The black that links the two - that's the Maledictus in genetic form."

Now that caught her attention. "In fact, as far as my research has discovered," he continued, tapping on the black spot. "This is the exact same spot where the magical curses will reside."

"Is there any way to remove it?" Fleur asked, arms crossed. "I mean, I don't think traditional magical remedies are going to cut it."

The doctor snorted, amused. "Obviously, potions aren't going to cut it." he replied, shaking his head. "The Maledictus is hardcoded into the person's body - unlike typical illnesses, curses that affect the genetic makeup have to remove by rewriting the entire DNA of a person - potions only work on a superficial level."

"So, how exactly are you going to remove it?" Potter asked, looking confused.

Watson swiped again, this time showing another two DNA pictures. "Tell me, do you know what these two are?" he asked them, everyone shaking their heads. "The one on the left is Lycanthropy, the right is the T-Virus."

"Now hold up," Potter exclaimed, standing up. "Are you telling us that Lycanthropy and T-Virus are the same?"

The doctor shook his head. "Lycanthropy and T-Virus have a similar genetic structure but have completely different chemical and biological makeup." he replied. "Lycanthropy is basically a natural version of the T-Virus, without any man-made interference."

"So you're saying that Mother Nature made its own version of the T-Virus?" Fleur asked, looking incredulous.

Watson nodded, crossing his arms. "You have to understand, the T-Virus originally came from a plant. When Spencer and I were making the T-Mage virus, she-"

"'You and Spencer'?" Potter cut, glaring at him. "You helped her make this virus that's running around here?"

"Yes."

Everyone looked at him, horrified. He said in the most casual way possible Daphne could think of, completely unapologetic of his actions. "How...how could you!" Fleur screamed in anger, smashing her hand on the tabletop as Emma shook in fear in Daphne's embrace. "Were you responsible as well for the Incliner Outbreak?"

"No, that was Spencer's doing." he replied, turning around as he shuffled some papers behind him. "She didn't even inform me about that test until a day after it happened. Rest assured, had I known, I would have stopped it with all my powers."

"That's doesn't exclude the fact that were facing a limited outbreak here in Hogwarts!" Potter exclaimed in anger. "Why in the world did you even think of helping her?"

Instead of answering, Watson merely raised his arm and pointed at her. "What...what has my family done to you?" Daphne asked, shocked and confused.

"Your family - nothing." he replied, his eyes filled with deep resentment and anger. "Your Blood Supremacy ideology...now we're talking."

Watson suddenly seemed to age up as he sighed. "Did you know I got twelve Os in my NEWTs?" he told them bitterly. "A hundred percent in all my tests, even got the highest academic honors the school could give - fat lot that did to me in life."

"Here I was, an eager Ravenclaw graduate with the highest marks, applying for a position in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries as a medical research and did you know what they gave me?" he asked rhetorically. "A potion brewer for Second Floor - A FUCKING POTION BREWER!

"I originally thought I needed to work my way up, so I did my best - brewed the correct potions, manage to hasten the healing process of some of the patients, and even correctly diagnosed a patient when none of the healers could. Yet I stayed as a potion brewer for five fucking years...until Rita Skeeter came."

"God bless her soul," he praised, smiling brightly. "She released an article confirming that the St. Mungo's director at that time was a Blood Supremacist and would favor average pureblood over competent muggleborns and halfbloods. It was such a huge scandal that the director resigned in shame and took her life a year after.

"The aftermath was even worse." he continued, his eyes full of hate. "They tried appointing us muggleborn in high positions, giving us grants, and all that jazz just to make up for all the mistakes they made. By then, I was completely disillusioned with the entire wizarding world - if they could do this here, where else could they be doing it?

"They actually had the audacity to give me the directorship of the hospital." he said, scoffing. "You know what I did - I gave them the finger, told them that there will always be people who will look down on my kind no matter how good we were, and gave them my resignation letter. Caused another scandal but I didn't give a shit - I was done with everything.

"That's when Spencer approached me, offering me a job at Umbrella because she wanted to enter magical medical market and needed people like me who can make the two sides work together - I just told her when do I start." he ended, glaring at her with all the hate he could muster.

"This whole thing - the Mage Series virus, Umbrella's experimentation on magic, everything I'm doing here - is all because YOU PUREBLOODS!" Watson screamed, scaring everyone in the room. "Couldn't look past the blood in your veins!"

With tears in her eyes, Daphne ran away, feeling the judging eyes follow her. Next thing she knew, she was flat on the floor near the entrance. Hugging her knees, she leaned back against the wall and let her tears fall down. Everything that Watson said hurt her to the very core - because in the end, every single word he said was correct.

The Greengrass family, though dark in nature, tried to play itself as a progressive family but they were like any pureblood out there - they thought they were far more superior to muggleborns. She knew Father would choose a halfbloods over a muggleborns if he was given an option (even if the latter was far better than the former). Though she was friends with Tracy and regularly went out to explore the Muggle World, she still saw 'her kind' as far more superior over the Muggles (no matter how many times she stared in amazement to all their contraptions). It even filled her with shame as she recalled all the jokes she did on muggleborns.

"Daphne?" a small voice asked. "Are you ok?"

Wiping out the tears in her eyes, the Slytherin smiled sadly as Emma walked towards her slowly. "He-hey," she hiccupped, patting the floor beside her. "I'm...I'm not really sure."

"I'm sorry about all the bad things Uncle Jonny told you." the girl apologized, giving Daphne some small comfort.

She ruffled brunette's hair, much to Emma's annoyance. "Don't be, what your uncle said...what he said was correct." Daphne replied shamefully. "I...I always thought it was correct, that a pureblood is better than those who aren't born like that."

"That's stupid." Emma replied bluntly, looking at her serious. If their discussion wasn't so serious, she would have laughed at how funny Emma's face looked like. "Daddy said that I should only hate people if they did something wrong to me and didn't apologize, not because of who they are."

Daphne chuckled - who knew Filch was so wise. "Your daddy seems such a smart man." she replied, smiling softly at her. Emma smile and was about to reply, only clutch her stomach and scream in pain. "Emma!"

"Da-Daphne…" Emma moaned, fidgeting in pain as Daphne picked her up. She gasped upon seeing the shaking hand slowly become furry. "It...it hurts!"

Rushing downstairs, she heard Potter and Watson arguing over something, Fleur standing by with a frown on her face. "Hey," she shouted, getting her attention. "I think the Maledictus is acting up!"

"Put her there!" Watson ordered loudly, pointing to a bed by the corner with some machines beside it. "Quickly!"

Depositing her, Daphne stepped back as Emma's uncle began inspecting her, hooking wires from the machine on the girl in pain. "Are you alright?" Potter asked her quietly, looking worried.

She shook her head. "I deal with Watson's accusations later, we have Emma to worry about." she replied as Watson injected something into Emma. "Will she be okay?"

"For now," Watson answered, looking tired. "But the suppressant only works for so long. Thankfully, the cure is ready but it needs last two ingredients I wasn't able to get."

"What and where?" Daphne demanded, surprising everyone - even Watson looked like he didn't expect her to ask. Sighing, she crossed her arms and stared at the doctor's eyes. "Look, you hate me for what I represent and I'm hurt over what you said but right now, Emma needs us. So you're going to tell me what you need to make that damn cure and Potter and I are going to get it.

Stunned silence followed her declaration and for a moment, she thought she made a mistake. "Ri-right! Fo-follow me," Watson stuttered, dashing to the stairs.

The trio followed him, entering one of the rooms in Floor 2. It was a medium size room, divided into three parts: an office-looking corner, an area with a single bed and nightstand with a door towards the bathroom, and a kitchenette and dining room folded into one.

"Okay, I'm...uh, I just need a Mandrake Restorative Draught and a special Arklay Herb to make a rainbow powder." Watson began, picking up some papers and shuffling them. "They're the last two ingredients for the cure."

"I have a Rainbow Pill with me." Potter offered, rummaging through his pocket.

Watson shook his head. "No, the particular powder I need has to be freshly made and grown in a magical environment." he replied, giving him a still (but colored) picture of the herb. "I gave one to Professor Sprout when I started working for Umbrella and it's by the East Wing."

Turning to Daphne, he handed her a piece of paper. "Ever since the Basilisk debacle, Professor Snape has been stocking some in his Private Office in the Slytherin Dorm. I'm not sure if you know it already but just in case, here you go."

Snapping his fingers, he dashed to a corner as Daphne pocketed the slip of paper. "How about you Fleur, are you coming?" Daphne asked her friend.

Shaking her head, she pointed at Emma. "I'll stay here and watch over the two." Fleur replied, giving her a smile. "Besides, I'll get lost if we ever separate."

"You can still help them out, Ms. Fleur." Watson pointed out, announcing his arrival with a metal case in hand. Laying it on the table and opening it, he gave them each a black rectangular device with an earpiece (similar to Potter's mobile). "You can man the Security Room and help them avoid any dangers while communicating with each other via the radio."

"Here, let me help you." Potter offered, seeing Daphne inspect the device. Blushing, she handed the radio (though it didn't look like the radio she was used to, she chalked it up to being a muggle thing) and he pressed some buttons before handing it back to her. "Attach it to your hips and make sure the earpiece is properly fitted on your ear."

"There, happy?" she replied, smirking as she applied strong Sticking and Protection Charms on both the earpiece and radio. The Gryffindor merely shook his head in amusement before doing the same. "Copycat…"

Potter shook his head as the four separate ways - Watson headed downstairs to monitor Emma, Fleur entered the 'security room', and they went up to the entrance. "Testing, can you hear me?" Fleur's voice filtered through the earpiece.

"We hear you, Fleur." he replied, pressing the earpiece. "Can you hear me?"

Daphne copied Potter's actions. "I'm doing this right?" she added nervously. "Right?"

Fleur chuckled. "Yes Daph, I hear you." she replied as they neared the metal doors. "Corridor's clear, you're good to exit the lab."

"Ready?" Potter asked, his hand on the green button by the doorway.

"Ready." Daphne confirmed, raising her wand arm. _'You're going to be fine, Emma - I promise."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Here are my notes on the two points:
> 
> 1) On the monsters:  
> Polishers: Yes, I made them House Elves for the sake of not just using regular humans as changed versions. I actually wanted Dobby to be some kind of Hybrid Licker that still retained his intelligence but in a convoluted way - wanting to serve the 'Great Harry Potter' by killing all his enemies and trying to rape Daphne but I disregarded that plot line as it was _way_ too dark for me to write.
> 
> 2) On the cure:  
> I'm actually stretching the lore quite a bit on this one, given how difference the science of both Fandoms are. In this fic, I'm just going to put it in and say that genetic-level magic (i.e. curses, transformations, etc.) can still be fixed through science as majority of magical cures (potions, plants, etc.) on work on a superficial level.


	4. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES:  
> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**  
>  Flashback - **# # # | # # #**  
>  Speaking - "Word"  
> Thoughts - _'Word'_  
>  Spells - _Word_

September 1, 2005 | 2200 Hours | Seventh Floor, Hogwarts Castle

"So…where to first?" Greengrass asked as they reached the Grand Staircase, thankfully still lit with torches. "Potion Stores or Greenhouse?"

"Gryffindor Tower," Harry replied, looking over the railings. When she protested, he continued. "I need to resupply…plus, I have a spare survival bag in my trunk you could use."

"Fine…" she relented, giving him a half-hearted glare. "Though I do have to ask, what do you keep in it anyway?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I have a couple of spray cans, some emergency medical potions, spare ammo, wilderness snacks enough for a week, and a sleeping bag."

Before Greengrass could reply, a loud roar stilled them before the two looked for the source. "Fifth floor!" she shouted, pointing to the hulking figure of G-Argus, wisps of a white fog gathering around him. "Oh shit, he's apparating!"

"Go!" he shouted, pushing Greengrass forward as they ran down the stairs. Seconds later, there was a soft pop behind them followed by a loud roar as they reached the fifth floor. Turning quickly, he pointed his pistol behind him and fired. Argus roared in pain, running forward to ram him, Harry barely dodging him. Greengrass, having reached the stairs, wobbled as it began to  _ flatten _ downwards from the floor as Argus jumped on to it to attack her.

Harry moved to follow but then the floor suddenly moved away from the fighting, surprising him.  _ 'Floors move?'  _ he asked himself, standing up just as it docked a good distance from the stair-turned-bridge. Thankfully, Greengrass was holding well, casting a powerful slowing spell that made Argus move at a snail's pace. Unfortunately, stage two G was becoming more resistant to as two Blasting Curses merely bounced off him to his chagrin.  _ 'There!'  _ Harry thought happily, seeing the stairs the floor docked lead to back to sixth and was near enough for him to jump down the bridge.

"Potter, bloody hurry up!" Greengrass screamed, sounding completely frustrated as Harry ran up the stairs. Running faster, he began thinking of ways to defeat Argus, recalling Claire had to use an improvised shipping container as a battering ram to knock G2 down a hole. He arrived in time to see Argus  _ catch _ the Exploding Charm with his left and smash it onto the floor, weakening the bridge. Suddenly, he remembered an episode from Naruto he and Dudley watched last year, where Naruto did the same thing with the Rasengan to fight Tsunade, only for her to redirect the incomplete technique downwards and created a crater.

' _ Ah fuck it!'  _ Harry thought, as he gathered magical energy into his left hand, adopting the form Kakashi used to create the Raikiri as his left arm started shaking painfully. Once formed, he immediately dashed and jumped down over Argus, smashing the condensed magical energy onto his head.

It did the trick - the bridge below broke and Argus fell down screaming, hitting various floors before breaking a hole on the ground floor and into the basement before quieting. Harry would have followed if not for someone crashing into him before landing painful. "What in Merlin and Morgan's name was that Potter?" he heard someone exclaimed as his left arm still throbbed painfully. Blinking, he found himself propped to the wall besides the frozen Fat Lady as Greengrass rummaged his bag, her hair ruffled badly.

"Just water," Harry croaked, getting the Slytherin's attention. "Potions will just make it hurt."

Looking doubtful, she nevertheless gave him water. "What in magic's name did you do, Potter?" she asked as he drank greedily, looking confused. "It looked like some sort of orb."

"Channeled magic into my palm, creating a ball of energy." he replied, grinning cheekily at Greengrass' cute frown. "Won't recommend using but it's useful in certain situations."

Seeing her unamused look, Harry continued. "I did some accidental magic back in Racoon City: flung zombies away from us, enhanced my punches, the likes. It was only when I was checked in New York Magical Hospital did I find out that I was damaging my magical nerves through my reckless use of wandless magic."

"But isn't wandless a great skill?

He nodded. "Yeah but only if you had fine motor skills to handle the magical output without burning the nerves." he explained, chuckling humorlessly. "Since I had none…well, you get the idea."

Greengrass looked exasperated, rolling her eyes. "Of course you'll do something like this Potter." she replied dryly as he tested his left hand, no longer feeling painful. Looking at the portrait besides him, she gave him a look. "Well, we're here - what's the password?"

"Diagonalley," Harry replied as he stood up, the portrait swinging outward. "Well, ready to see the Party Central of Hogwarts?"

She gave him an arched eyebrow. "Potter, the Slytherin dorm has a ballroom." she revealed, looking smug at his surprised face as they entered the dorm. "Don't look surprised, we're – never mind, get what you need."

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. He was surprised at the sudden shift from a proud to subdued demeanor. "What's wrong?"

Greengrass didn't reply as they as they reached the common room. "I remembered Watson's words on how…on how we act superior to those who aren't 'us'." she replied quietly, looking downcast as she flopped down on the couch. "I felt like I was proving him when I lorded over that we have a ballroom and you don't."

Harry didn't say anything as he sat beside her, having agreed with Watson on that issue - Lord knows how many times he was annoyed at Malfoy's egoistic boasting - but that didn't give him the right to do the same over purebloods. "I won't say he's wrong - I mean, look at Malfoy!" he pointed out, making her face twitch with a smile. "But that doesn't mean he's right.

"The point is," he clarified, seeing Greengrass' confused look. "You know where you're wrong and now you have a chance to be  _ better _ . Change doesn't happen overnight, Greengrass - it takes time like a seed, needing nurturing in order to blossom into something beautiful."

That seemed to do the trick, getting a pretty smile from her. "You have a way with words, Potter." she remarked.

"Come on, let's get my spare kit." he replied, standing. "I think I have a dragonhide jacket as well you can use."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

"What do we get first?" Harry asked as the two stepped out of the Gryffindor entrance. Thankfully, the staircase was still empty according to Fleur, though she did warn that most of the specimens were still on the other side of Hogwarts. "Fleur said most of them are near the greenhouses."

"Potions first, we're nearer to it anyway." Greengrass replied, fixing her hair into a ponytail. Besides the dragonhide jacket, she raided Hermione's chest for camping clothes that were appropriate for their situation (especially since Hermione was an avid camper). "There's an expanded cabinet in Professor Snape's office containing all the potions the school will ever need."

"Good, I need to replace my pistol as well." he said, cursing that Chris' gift was now lost when he jumped down.

"What makes you think our head of house has a gun?" she asked rhetorically as they began walking down the stairs.

Harry smirked as he fished out the heart-shaped key Snape had given him earlier. "'Cause he told me," he replied, smirking. "Granted he sneered at me but hey, it's the thought that counts!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I do have to ask," she began as the two reached the first floor. "I can understand him being hard on everyone but…the way he pushes you is far more than the others - and I'm his apprentice!"

He blinked, surprised. "You're a potion appreciate?"

"Yes," Greengrass answered, looking sad. "I had it in my head that maybe I can cure the curse Astoria has but looks like Watson beat to me first."

"He made the cure to the Maledictus." Harry corrected. "You never know, Watson may need an assistant…although he'll have to answer for his crimes first."

"He'll get the Kiss, if any of the pureblood Families get their way - they'll argue he used dark magic to cure it." she replied darkly. "Especially if creating these BOWs are serious enough in the Muggle World."

He winced at that, saying as much to Watson back in the lab. Sighing, he gave her a look. "Those families really don't like it being one upped - especially by a muggleborn."

"There are rumors that some of the inventions of pureblood were actually made by muggleborn or halfbloods." Greengrass replied, snorting. "The Sleekeazy's Hair Potion your grandfather made? Rumor has it's a muggleborn who made it, your grandfather just made it look he made it."

He frowned. "Hm…I haven't seen that particular pop up in our records." Harry answered as they entered the Entrance Hall. "Meh, I'll check it once we're out of here."

"Once we're out of here," she began, leading him to a familiar corridor. "I'm going to load up my tub with so much bubbles and stay in it for the entire day."

He snorted, remembering the plans BSAA cooked up in case of a magical outbreak. "Doubt that, BSAA's going to keep the entire school in confinement until their sure none of us are infected."

"Potter, none of us are bitten." she replied, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head, explaining how Spencer threatened him by turning everyone in the Great Hall in the infected if he didn't become her test subject. "Oh Morgana, Tori's infected?" Greengrass wailed, fear in her eyes. "Is...is there any cure?"

"There's a vaccine," remembering what Claire told him about WilPharma's clinical trials in India. "But I hear there's some trouble with the production."

"Harry, come in." Fleur's voice filtered through their earpiece. "Watson wants to talk."

"What do mean Spencer infected everyone in the Great Hall?" Watson's voice asked sharply. "Did she threatened you by gassing the place?"

"She said that the T-Mage is already in everyone's bloodstream and she could just activate it in a snap." Harry replied. "It was either fight everyone in the Hall or kill the BOWs."

Watson was quiet for a moment. "Potter," he began slowly. "T-Mage doesn't have a trigger - the moment it enters someone, they turn."

His mind stopped, processing the words Watson said. "Wh-what?"

"Spencer lied to you, Potter. T-Mage acts quickly and doesn't need a trigger."

Before his anger could get the better of him, his mobile phone rang. Bringing it out, he growled as he pressed the loudspeaker function of the phone. "I see my bluff's been made." Spencer began, sounding amused.

"Fuck you, Spencer!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "Fuck you and your sick games, bitch!"

"Now, now, you wouldn't want me to…'accidentally' open the doors and kill everyone, hm?"

"She's telling the truth," Fleur said over the earpiece. "Two Trynorgs just entered and are heading for the Great Hall with miniguns."

Harry took a deep breath as Spencer laughed at them. "I don't know where you are or who you're with, but I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." he replied calmly, his anger laced in his tone. "So mote it be."

He could hear sharp intakes of breath as his wand heated up, shaking in excitement as magic accepted his declaration. "Good luck." Spencer replied seconds later, her tone mocking but he thought he could hear a slight hitch in her voice. "Oh, and Watson? Watch the clock!"

The call ended as Greengrass laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Potter…I-uh, I'm so-"

In a fit of rage, he smashed the mobile on the floor before punching the wall beside him, creating a small hole in it. "Fucking damnit!"

Heaving, he slid down the wall, feeling like shit. "I'm such an idiot." he murmured. "I should have called her bluff."

"No you're not."

Harry shot an incredulous look at Greengrass, who met his gaze head on. "You're not an idiot, Potter." she insisted, her eyes narrowed as she knelt before him. "An idiot would be running around like a headless chicken or act like Malfoy, using his father's name as a weapon, even if it was useless."

Harry snorted.  _ 'Not a bad analogy.' _ "I still fell for her trick…" he countered.

"Did you know Watson made the T-Mage?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Err…no."

"Did you know ever believed a magical version of this T-Virus could be made?"

Harry shook his head. "There you go!" Greengrass exclaimed, looking happy. "You knew it couldn't happen so when Spencer disproved you, you immediately thought everything else she said as true."

He tried to argue but the Slytherin stopped him. "Even if you did call her bluff, what's to stop her from leaving you be and testing all her BOWs on me?"

That made Harry pause, realizing what she was saying. "Do you see it now, Potter?" Greengrass said, looking at him directly in the eyes. He never realized how the light made her eyes shine bright blue. "You operated with what you knew and you had no reason to believe she was lying to you."

"Thanks Greengrass," he muttered, his mood lifting. She stood up and offered her hand, him grabbing it to get pulled up. "So, the Slytherin Dungeon?"

She merely shot her cute smirk at him. "Toujour Pure," she said, the wall behind him opened. "Welcome, Gryffindor, to the Dungeon of the Slytherins."

Harry noted not much changed since his and Ron's visit back in Second Year. "Huh, it still looks the same." he commented, getting an incredulous look from his Slytherin companion. "Ron and I entered back in Second Year as Crabble and Goyle under polyjuice."

"Poly-let me make a guess, Granger brewed?" Greengrass asked, raising her hands in the air. He nodded, amused at her actions. "Why did you even enter our dorm?"

"The three of us thought Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin." he replied before hurriedly adding "To be fair, he was rather boastful during that year."

Face-palming, Greengrass gave him a flat look. "You thought Malfoy was the heir." she repeated, unamused. "Draco 'My Father Will Hear This' Malfoy - that Malfoy?"

"I'll admit, my judgement has its good days and bad." Harry replied, grimacing. It reminded him of that time he thought Snape wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone back in first year when it was Quirrell all along. "But Malfoy had a link to the whole Heir business - his father had a hand in causing the whole thing."

"What, Lord Malfoy slipped a dark artifact in someone's unsuspecting hands?" she snorted but looked surprised when he nodded. "Wait really?"

"Yeah…but we got other stuff to fry." Harry replied, looking around. "Where's the office?"

Greengrass took the lead, opening the door to a gloomy and dimly lit room with a fireplace near. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars filled with slimy, revolting things, such as bits of animals and plants, floating in potions of varying colors. Pointing to a cupboard, she said "That's where Professor Snape keeps the emergency potions."

She immediately went to work, no doubt unlocking the wards placed around it. Looking at the desk, he spotted a flower-shape box on it.  _ 'Huh, who would have thought.' _

Fishing out the key, he unlocked the box and spotted the revolver immediately, along with boxes of ammo. Cocking the revolver, he immediately loaded the bullets and pocketed the rest (about 60) was about to close the box when he spotted a bulky letter with the Potter seal on it.

"I got the potion, you got the gun?" Greengrass asked as he inspected the letter. "Hey, don't read that!"

He ignored her, inspecting it. "The letter has my family's seal…and it's written by my mother."

Harry looked at the letter with trepidation. He knew Snape and his mother were once friends, if Aunt Pet and Sirius comments were anything to go by. "I know the two were friends but…I know they had a falling out back in their fifth year." he explained, frowning as he spotted the date. "That's odd, it's dated a week after her death."

He pointed at the date when she looked at him in confusion. "You're right…" she muttered.

Making his decision, he unsealed the letter to reveal - to both their surprise - a cassette player. "What's that?" Greengrass asked, frowning at it.

"A cassette player - think a Howler but stores any words spoken to it." he explained, staring at it with apprehension. "I'm playing it."

"Potter, that isn't your."

Harry sighed. "Look, I never got to hear my mother's voice, okay? I…I just want to hear it."

Seeing her anger deflate, he took it as a sign to press play. "If you're listening to this Sev," a female voice began. "It means Riddle killed us, my son's alive, and the ritual worked. That said, I also know you were the reason he targeted us in the first place."

The two stared at each other in confusion. "What, didn't think Dumbledore won't tell us who told him?" Lily continued, as if knowing they'd be confused. "He explained that you overheard the proclamation of the prophecy and in your rush, you didn't stop to think who the targets would be.

"I…I was a horrible person to you Sev, laughing at you when the Marauders was bullying you and ditched you in your time of need." By now, his mother was openly crying and sniffing. "You had every reason to keep on hating me - I married your worst bully, I ended our friendship because of a word spoken in a distressing time - and yet you immediately became a double agent to save me - why Sev, why?

"Guess…guess I'll never know, since I'll be dead by the time you listen to this. I could only hope you forgive me, Sev, for the pain I've caused you - for all the pain we have done to you." Lily pleaded, hiccupping. "To…to sweeten the deal, as Sirius would say, I've hidden my journals in our secret space for your use - although you're going to have to wait for my replacement to open it."

She was silent for a moment, as if contemplating over something. "Once…once you got it, could…could you make sure the letters James and I wrote in case we die be given to Harry?" she asked, sounding worried. "Consider this your best friend's final plea to you, Sev. I know you have no obligation to do so but…please?"

There was some ruffle of paper before his mother spoke again. "Well, my time was nearly up. I hope you will forgive me, Sev, for all the pain I've caused you...and James and I forgive you for the pain you've created for us." she said sadly. "Live long and prosper."

Harry just stared at the cassette player as the recording ended. "That…that fucking bastard!" he exclaimed angrily, his fist clenching tightly. It was Snape - the very person who hated him with a passion - that made him an orphan.

"Potter…" Greengrass said warily, look at him fearful.

"If you're going to defend him, don't." he growled, glaring at her. "I don't fucking care if he's your Potions Master but THAT BASTARD'S THE REASON  _ BOTH  _ MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!"

"Didn't your mother forgive him?" she countered shakily, both knowing it was unacceptable.

In a fit of rage, he threw everything on desk onto the floor. "WELL I HAVEN'T!" he roared, heaving. "That man has always been breathing down my neck, mocking me for even the tiniest of things, and I just find out that he's the reason fucking Voldemort is still after me!"

"Potter, You-Know-Who is dead!" she countered, wincing at his blatant use of the name. "You-"

He laughed humorlessly. "Well I lied." he replied, kicking Snape's chair. "Tom fucking Riddle is still alive and still wants me dead."

"Who?"

Repeating what Voldemort did back in Second Year, he used his wand to write Tom Marvolo Riddle in the air. "When rearranged, it becomes 'I am Lord Voldemort'." he explained as the letters rearranged themselves. "He - or rather a part of his consciousness - showed me back in Second Year."

Greengrass' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"He had a diary and somehow placed his consciousness into it." Harry answered. "Lucius Malfoy managed to get his hands on it and then manipulated Ginny to-"

"-use the diary to partially take over her, yes?" she finished, raising an eyebrow. When he nodded, the Slytherin growled, rubbing her forehead. "Bloody hell, he made a Soul Anchor and left it lying about?"

"Soul Anchor?"

Greengrass nodded, looking weary. "Very dark and highly unstable piece of magic. Anyone who creates one becomes immortal at the expense of their humanity." she explained, seeing his confusion. "Thankfully, you already destroyed his anchor so he's fully dead."

Harry snorted, giving her a dry look. "Oh he ain't dead, Greengrass." he replied, surprising her. "Remember last year? The reason it took me a while to get back from the maze was because he kidnapped me to take part in a ritual to give him a new body."

"That's…that's impossible!"

He shot her a look. "I ain't lying, Greengrass."

She shook her head. "No Potter, you don't get it. If he made a Soul Anchor and you destroyed it before the Tournament, he should have already moved into the afterlife." she explained, sounding really worried. "The…the fact that he was still alive last year means…"

"Means what, he has another soul anchor?" Harry replied, getting a stiff nod from her. "So what, I mean-"

"Potter, anyone who makes more than one Soul Anchor is literally destroying their soul." Greengrass cut, sounding scared. "The broken soul is literally eaten up by dark magic, turning them into a husk of darkness, driven to commit murder and pain."

He just stared at her, digesting her words. "So…you're saying that my parents were killed by the living embodiment of Dark Magic?" he clarified. When she nodded, he groaned. "Great, not only do I have a professor who killed my parents teaching me, the living embodiment of darkness is also after me."

"Potter, Profe-"

"Don't." Harry warned, glaring at her. "As far as I'm concerned, he killed my parents."

Greengrass winced as he made his way out of the office. "Al…alright, I'll just fix this place then meet you outside."

He didn't answer as he left the office, scowling at what he heard. Snape overheard some kind of prophecy about him and when he realized Lily would die, he switched sides just to protect her.  _ 'Fat lot that did…' _ he thought angrily…though it did raise some questions. What was in that prophecy that made him a target in the first place? And what was this 'secret place' his mom was referring to that it needed her 'replacement' to open it? What was this 'replacement' going to do?  _ 'Damnit, I still need Snape to understand this.' _ Harry realized, groaning.

Spotting Greengrass leave the office, he waved at her from near the door. "You done?"

She nodded. "Hey, Potter…" she began, looking unsure. "I just want to say that…look, I can't exactly know why Professor Snape did that-"

"Ain't that an understatement."

"-but once this is all over, for the love of magic please don't punch him immediately upon seeing him." she continued, ignoring the interruption.

"Greengrass, do you really think I'll do that?" he asked, feeling incredulous.

She gave him a flat look. "Potter, you're a Gryffindor." she replied, unamused as the door opened. "I expect you to do exactly that. Now come on, it's past eleven - we need that herb now."

Harry merely shook his head, following Greengrass out of the common room. "Right," he said. "Let's find that herb."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AWESOME NOTES AND NOTIFICATIONS:  
> Hello again to my loyal readers of this fic! I have come back with another update!  
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
> Anyway, here you go! I hope you enjoy the twists I made to the story so far. Now Harry knows Snape betrayed his parents and Daphne is scared at what dear old Riddle has done.   
> Want to know what happens next? Tune in the following days!


	5. Daphne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**
> 
> Flashback - **# # # | # # #**
> 
> Speaking - "Word"
> 
> Thoughts - _'Word'_

Chapter 5: September 1, 2005 | 2315 Hours | Basement to Ground Floor Stairway, Hogwarts Class Building

"They look dead." Daphne whispered as she peeked around the corner.

Potter pursed his lips. "I don't like this," he muttered, bringing out something from his bag. "I'm testing something first, though."

"What is that?" she asked, looking intrigued. The item was a miniature black horn with legs attached to it, looking like some bare mechanical duck.

"The Weasley Twins call it a 'Decoy Detonator'," Potter explained, juggling the item on one hand. "As you can tell, it creates a distraction."

Daphne snorted as he winded up the item. "What's it going to do, wake up the dead?"

Instead of answering, Potter let the item do its work. It dashed across the corridor, creating loud noises as -  _ 'By Merlin, are they waking up?' _ she thought in surprise as the bodies slowly stood up and followed the Decoy.

"Knew it." Potter stated, stepping out into the corridor once it was clear.

Daphne immediately rounded towards him. "Explain, now!"

"Something like this happened back in Racoon." he began, moving towards the Greenhouse Entrance with his shotgun out. "We were kidnapped when we were trying to get out of the Police Station, the police chief locking Claire back in."

"Wait," she asked, making sure to keep an eye out behind them. "Why did the this…chief kidnapped you two? Shouldn't you be helping each other."

Potter snorted, looking amused. "I'll tell you later why Sherry got kidnapped in the first place but when Claire was looking for a gate pass, she passed this room full of dead bodies." he replied, opening the door slowly to peak outside. "Coast clear, let's move. Lock it when you close it."

With him watching her back, Daphne immediately closed the door and began spelling it. "Anyway, she accidentally dropped a vase nearby and all the dead bodies began standing up." he continued as she casted a Freezing Charm at it. "Claire barely got out of the room alive. Afterwards, she made sure to shoot any dead bodies in the head if we see any - a waste of bullets but better than being jumped."

"Done," Daphne finished, turning to Potter. "Well, at least you have something to use this time around."

He nodded. "Fleur, this is Harry. What Greenhouse was the herb placed again?"

"A moment please?" Fleur replied over the earpiece. "It's in Greenhouse 7, Harry."

"Thanks Fleur." Daphne replied as they moved towards the specific greenhouse. "Any news on the BOWs?"

"Tracking…none are in the immediate area." Fleur replied. "Although there's only one Trynorg guarding the Great Hall."

"Can you find the other?" he asked, exchanging his shotgun for Professor Snape's revolver. "I'll rather not-"

A large hand immediately smashed out of greenhouse door, grabbing and lifting him into the air. The entire greenhouse entrance gave way as a half-naked, grotesque-looking, half-giant burst through it. "Bloody hell!" she screamed, quickly backing away from it just as it threw Potter into another greenhouse. "POTTER!"

"Only a Trynorg without its Inhibitor Armor." a feminine voice filtered through her earpiece. "I know an ogre is quite large…but I never expected for it to grow  _ that  _ large!"

"Fucking hell, that's what a T-Mage does to an ogre?" she heard Potter moan in despair. "G-Argus is hard enough already."

Daphne groaned as the grey-skinned monster turned its eyes on here. "Potter, better get your arse out of that rubble!" she shouted, the upgrade Trynorg slowly lumbering towards her. She immediately casted a Blasting Curse at it, barely making a scratch on it. "Fuck, it's spell resistant!"

She heard a soft boom, noticing Potter had his shotgun out. "Damnit," he said over the earpiece, cursing. "It's hide is too hard!"

"Good luck killing the Girge!" Spencer said in a sing-song voice. "You'll need it."

The line went dead as Daphne fired an overpowered Exploding Charm, causing the Girge to pause before continuing its slow walk towards her. "Nothing's working!"

"Aim for its dick!" he shouted from behind it. She would have laughed if the giant wasn't two steps away from her.

' _ Ah, fuck it!' _ she thought, casting a Blasting Curse between its legs. To her surprise, the Girge double over in pain.  _ 'Bloody hell, it actually worked!' _

"Oi, get over here before it rises up!" Potter shouted, waving frantically at her from the gate. "Come on!"

Dashing madly towards him, Daphne manage to get out in time as the Girge began to rise. "Open the gate!" she screamed at him. "OPEN IT!"

Cursing, the Gryffindor tried to force the gate to open but unfortunately, it won't bulge. "Stand back!" he said, aiming his gun at the lock and fired. Nothing happened except for the gate lock sparking.

" _ Alahomora _ !" she casted, praying to whatever deity to make it work - which still didn't unlock. "OPEN DAMNIT!"

Looking back, Daphne screamed as the Girge was already halfway towards them. Suddenly, it fell on its knees, shaking the ground and causing them to stumble…towards its outstretched hand. "Argh!" she screamed in pain as the Girge grabbed and slowly squeezed her, mouth wide open as if… "POTTER, IT'S GOING TO EAT ME!"

**# # # | # # #**

"Daphne, do you know why we're here?" Aunt Sansa Greengrass asked opposite of her in the heavily warded dueling room of the Greengrass Manor.

"No Auntie." fourteen-year-old Daphne replied formally with an air of stoicism. Inside, however, she was sweating rivers as she tried to calm herself.  _ 'Anytime I'm in this room, there's always pain.' _

"We are here because I'm going to teach you a spell I won't normally teach until you are of age…but times are changing." she sighed before her eyes narrowed at her. "However, you are to swear an Unbreakable Vow first before I teach it - even then, we will first study  _ what  _ this spell is before I even teach you what the wand motion is."

Her aunt walked towards her, chin up as she began looming over her. "Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear." she said, hammering each word into her being.

"Ye-yes Auntie." Daphne stuttered, gulping in fear.

"Good," Aunt Sansa replied, crouching before her to level her eyes with hers. "What do you know of the Killing Curse?"

**# # # | # # #**

" _ AVADA KEDAVRA! _ " Daphne screamed as she pointed her wand at the open mouth.

She could feel all her negativity becoming magical energy, strengthening the Unforgivable as it coursed through her arm, creating a bright, green ball of light flying off the tip of her wand and into the belly of the beast. Time stood still, as if Mother Nature herself was shocked by the very nature of the spell, the world silent, rendered speechless by the darkest spell created by magic.

And like the Biblical Goliath that was hit by a stone to the head, the Girge fell backwards as it let go of Daphne. " _ Wingardium Leviosa _ !" she heard Potter cast, magic letting her levitate to the ground. "Did…did you use  _ what _ I think you used?"

"I…I-" she began, unable to form words. "Oh Morgana, I used it!"

"Yeah, you did." he replied dryly, eyeing the Girge. "Well, at least we know what to use next time."

"Damnit Potter, you don't understand!" Daphne screamed in despair, surprising him. "I swore an Unbreakable Vow and I broke it and-"

SLAP!

"Ouch!" she exclaimed painfully, rubbing her cheek. "What was that?"

"You were rambling - and, in case you're wondering, you're still standing." he replied flatly, getting an embarrassed blushed from her upon realizing that yes, she was still alive. Glancing back at the Girge, he gave a low whistle. "Well, looks like we now have a new cure for the T-Mage."

He was right - there was nothing left of the Girge nor the Trynorg they were fighting earlier. All that remained was a young ogre, stiff and - thankfully - dead. "You're right…" she muttered, slowly walking towards it.

"Looks like the Killing Curse  _ literally  _ kills everything." Potter guessed, frowning. "Man…can't believe I'm that lucky."

"What makes you say that?" she asked. Instead of answering, he merely pointed at the scar on his head. "Right…you're the 'Boy-Who-Lived', of course, how could I forget that."

Potter had the audacity to looked hurt at her sarcasm. "Oi, I'll have you know I'm the 'Boy-Who-Lived- _ Twice _ '." he said proudly, chin up. "Surviving the G-Virus is my second claim to fame."

Daphne rolled her eyes, though she did smile a bit before remembering what she used. "Oh Hecate, what have I done?" she muttered, paling.

The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow. "I know you used a dark spell but what's so bad about it?" he asked. "I mean, you've been using dark spells for almost the entire night, what the difference-"

"The difference, Potter," she cut, glancing sideways at him. "Is the Killing Curse poisons the soul of the caster."

Surprised, he let her continue. "The curse draws powers from the darkness within the caster, forcing it to course through the body." she explained softly, still reeling that she used the very spell her aunt warned her not to use. "The more it's used, the higher the chances of the darkness killing you."

Potter gave a low whistle. "No wonder it's Unforgivable." he said, shuddering. "It's literally a double-edged sword - or spell, in this case."

Daphne nodded grimly. "Yeah…" she muttered before turning to him. "Come on, let's get the herb."

The two made their way towards the ruined greenhouse, the moon lighting their path. "What's so special about this herb, anyway?" she asked as they clambered over the entrance's rubble. "What does it do?"

"The herb - or the entire herbal family, to be exact - has some special properties." he began, spotting a potted green-colored plant. "Take the green herb for example: chewing the herb slowly heals your wounds over time."

She arched an eyebrow. "What, there's more than one colored herb?"

"Three actually - green, red, blue." Potter replied, grinning. "Green helps in healing and strengthening, blue cures most poisons, and the red amplifies the effects of the two when mixed together in powdered form."

"And the one we're looking for?"

He shook his head. "No clue," he answered honestly. "But if I had to guess, it's a super herb that heals and cures - aha, here it is!"

They stopped before a potted plant and Daphne couldn't help but gasp at how beautiful it looked. "Wow…" she exclaimed softly, admiring at how the colors blend together to create a rainbow-like wave pattern. She made a move to touch it only for Potter to stop her.

"Don't," he warned. "The leaves turn into powder if rubbed with force."

"Really? What, you snort when you accidentally turn it into powder?"

He snorted. "Yes." he replied, chuckling at her expression as he knelt to open his bag. "It's either chew the leaves or suck it through the mouth."

Once the herb was secured, the two headed for the frozen door. "Fleur, any surprises for us?" Daphne asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Fleur replied sadly. "We have Polishers and Infected gathered before the door, trying to claw their way through."

"Looks like we're going around then." Potter said, sighing as he brought out his shotgun. "What do the grounds look like, Fleur?"

"Crawling with Chimeras." Fleur answered, making Daphne wince.

"Great…more monstrous things after us." Daphne deadpan, getting a chuckle from the two. "Anything else?"

"Uh…does Hogwarts have a baby dragon?" Fleur asked, sounding worried.

"We had one back in first year but Hermione and I sent to Romania." Potter replied.

Daphne gave him an incredulous look. "There was a dragon back in first year?"

"Yeah, short story is Hagrid managed to win a dragon egg." he chuckled. "Named him Norbert right after hatching."

"Well…" Fleur replied, sounding worried. "This…dragon thing looks like it was starved and skinned."

Potter paled. "That's no dragon," he answered hurriedly, making a mad dash towards the gate. "That's Argus in stage 3 form. We got to go now!"

"How many stages are there?" Daphne angrily groaned as she ran after him. Ignoring her, he kicked the gate open forcefully that the entire thing flew off its hinges. "Oi, answer me!"

"Less talking, more watching!" he growled, bringing his gun to bear. "Fleur, sit rep!"

"They're gathered in the fields near Quidditch Pitch." the veela reported immediately as the two ran towards Merlin's Gate. "Path towards the Transfiguration Corridor is clear though."

Making their way through the ruined entrance, they slowly walked past the wet floor filled with debris. Suddenly, the door at the other end burst open to reveal screeching Chimeras running towards them. "Back!" Potter screamed, the two back peddling their way to the exit.

Turning, Daphne took a few steps only to halt as two more Chimeras appeared, blocking Merlin's Gate. "Through the Pitch, now!" she shouted, dashing towards the Quidditch Pitch.

"They're trying to corner us!" he shouted behind her, two booms followed after. "And stick close to me, damnit!"

She skidded to a stop, in time for the Chimera to burst through the ground…and fly backwards as its chest was destroyed. Stumbling, she looked up to see the Gryffindor pump his shotgun and blew the head of another Chimera. "Stand up now," he snarled. "and cover my back!"

"I'm sorry!" Daphne shouted, scrambling to stand and immediately stuck her back towards his as the Chimeras slowly encircled them. "I-

"Greengrass, shut up!" Potter growled behind her. "Focus!"

' _ Breath Daphne, breath…' _ she thought rapidly, eyes darting among almost three dozen Chimeras surrounding them.  _ 'Calm down, believe Potter has a plan.'  _ "Got any ideas, Potter?"

"I'm open to yours." he answered, making her growl in annoyance. Before she could answer, one of the Chimera sprang towards her. Quick as lightning, she casted a Blasting Curse towards it and pulverized the entire torso. The rest of the herd ( _ 'Are they even a herd?' _ ) immediately attacked, sprinting towards then like there's no tomorrow.

Potter's gun blew the heads of many of them as Daphne flung spell after spell to stem the tide, to no avail. "Argh!" she shouted as a lucky one pounced on her - only for him to kill it afterwards.

"I got six shots left," he shouted, dropping the shotgun as she casted an Exploding Charm to another Chimera. Drawing Professor Snape's gun, he shot another one behind her. "Make that five!"

" _ Bombarda Maximus _ !" she casted towards another Chimera. "I have a spell -  _ Confrigo _ \- I can use -  _ Bombarda  _ \- if you need to reload!"

"Cast it!" Potter shouted, his last shot blowing a chunk off a Chimera's head.

" _ Portego Diabolica _ !" Daphne casted with a twirl, blue flames encircling the two of them. One Chimera was burnt to ashes as it went through the flames, leaving only 12 left. "Do what you need to do!"

As he knelt to reload his gun, she tried to maintain focus on her Shield from Evil Charm. Though she had been practicing this spell for two years now, her magical capacity only allowed her to maintain it for one minute (two if she wanted to collapse from Magical Exhaustion). "Potter," she growled out, feeling the flames dim a little as her magic began to strain.

Thankfully, she heard the telltale sound of a chung-chung. "Drop it," he said, standing up with both guns at the ready. Daphne ended the spell, collapsing in exhaustion as the Chimeras ran forward to attack. Her Gryffindor companion stepped forward, acting as her shield and what happened next would forever be sketched into her memories.

Harry Potter was a whirlwind of destruction, each shot fired from both guns ended the life of a Chimera. His movement so fluid that it looked as if he were dancing to a tune no one could hear as he fired round after round, mesmerizing her as he effortlessly dealt with the specimens with grace. She shuddered to think what would have happened if he was using magic and not guns - the very thought terrifying her.

With the last Chimera had its head pulverized by a shotgun blast ( _ 'Seriously, how powerful are these muggle weapons?' _ ), the Gryffindor fell onto his knees, panting. "Come on," he said a moment later, shooting her a grin. "You rested?"

"I should be asking you that question," she shot back, shaking her head in disbelief. "How in-"

A loud roar cut her off, moments before a leathery, monstrous, mutated dragon-like creature burst out of the base of the Astronomy Tower. "RUN!" Potter screamed, grabbing her tightly as they scrambled away from the collapsing tower.

' _ Fuck, fuck, fuck!'  _ Daphne repeated the mantra as she trailed behind him. Looking back, she swore as the thing started lifting off the ground. "POTTER, IT'S FLYING!" she screamed as they neared the bridge towards the main hall.

"INCOMING!" he shouted, sliding across the bridge just as a claw destroyed the roof, blocking the path before her with rubble. Without stopping, she vaulted over it, executing a shoulder roll to land before him. "Show off…"

"Potter, what…what was that?" she asked, panting hard. She hadn't run that fast since she was ten, acting as a horse for Tori when Father and Aunt Sansa were preparing a surprise party. "Was…was that Argus?"

He nodded. "Stage 3 G-Mage, if I had to guess." he replied, trying to stretch his back. "Come on, let's head back."

Exiting into the Courtyard, the two nearly made it to the Grand Staircase doorway when a large boulder flew past them, destroying it. They both groaned loudly as they spotted Argus roar at them from the rooftop before leaping down and cracking the Courtyard floor. "RUN!" Potter shouted as they both ran away, casting a Snail Pace jinx only for Argus to swat it away. "It's not working!"

Daphne was about to reply when she spotted the last Trynorg point the swirling gun at her as it stood before the Great Hall doors. Suddenly, she was tackled sideways as it started firing. "MOVE!" he said, eyes full of fear and anger as she was forced to stand up. "MOVE GREENGRASS, MOVE!"

Scrambling after him, she gave one last peak behind her to see the two BOWs dish it out on each other before running with all her strength to get to the stairs. As they reached the first floor, the staircases around them began to move. "JUMP!" Potter screamed as he did, the Slytherin copying him.

"Oomph," Daphne gasped, crashing into her Gryffindor companion. "Sor-"

A loud crash cut her off, turning to see Argus break through the entrance, a Girge following it. "Go, go, go!" he urged, helping her stand up. The two continued running as the two monstrous BOWs beat each other. The staircase wasn't even helping, either changing direction or detaching from their position, forcing the two to jump and stumble - at one point, she nearly fell if not for his quick reflects and a timely casting of a Levitation Charm.

"Fucking stairs…" Daphne muttered, collapsing to her knees as she tried to steady her breathing. "I'm never climbing them again."

"Amen to that," Potter praised, leaning by the wall of the seventh floor corridor. "I don't give a shit if I had to skip classes, I'm never climbing them again."

A loud, victorious roar made them look at each other worriedly. "Painting's just over there so come on." he continued, standing up.

Thankfully, Fleur was waiting for them by the door/gate. "Thank St. Joan you're both here." she breathed out in relief. "Hurry, Watson needs those supplies ASAP!"

Potter threw his bags towards her. "Go, I'll close the door!" he shouted as she caught it, getting a nod.

"How is she?" Daphne asked Fleur as they headed downstairs.

Fleur sighed. "Not good. Watson's at the ninth suppressant."

"Ah, you're here!" Watson greeted them. Daphne noticed he looked older than he was a few hours ago, looking gaunt and pale. "Right bring out the Rai-ARGH!"

Watson collapse suddenly, clutching his left arm as he groaned in pain. Daphne immediately dropped the bag, rushing besides him as… "Is that fur?" she gasped in horror, his left arm slowly growing dark, grey fur as his hand started growing claws.

"Grab that - ARGH - autoinjector," he growled out, pointing towards the table besides Emma's bed. Fleur immediately grabbed it as Daphne tried to keep Watson steady. "Hurry!

"Catch!" Fleur shouted, throwing a plastic vail at Daphne. Once in her hands, she handed it to Watson immediately, who then jabbed it into his arm and sighed in relief.

"Spencer wasn't joking about the time…" Watson muttered as his arms slowly stopped shaking, the fur disappearing, though the elongated nails and fingers remained. "Right, we got work to do. Green-"

"Watson," Daphne cut worriedly. "Your-"

"We can discuss what's wrong with me  _ after _ the Maledictus Cure has been made." Watson snapped, anger in his eyes. "Worry about Emma, she takes precedence."

"Woah," Potter exclaimed, announcing himself as he reached the lab. "Everyone okay?"

Fleur shook her head, eying Watson carefully. "He collapsed but won't say why."

Watson winced as he tried to stand, Daphne helping him up. "We have other-"

"Watson," Daphne pleaded as they moved near Emma's bed. "Please, what did you do?"

"Doc, we ain't making the cure if you don't tell us." Potter added, crossing his arms.

Growling, Watson huffed as he sat on the chair by Emma's bed. "I turned myself into a werewolf." he revealed to their shock, inspecting his partially transformed hand. "Spencer wanted to weaponize the Lycanthrope strain but I manage to dissuade her by prioritizing a cure or at least a suppressant first."

"Bloody hell, are you mad?" Potter exclaimed angrily. "This…this Mage virus is bad enough and you two wanted to expand it?"

"I've made my bed with my choices, Potter." the magical scientist snapped, narrowing his eyes at the Gryffindor. "No need to rub it in."

"Back to the point, you're a werewolf now?" Fleur asked, giving him a worried look.

Watson nodded, sighing. "Yes." he said gravelly. "I've only made a suppressant to it as my cure research is getting nowhere."

"And a suppressant can only go so far…" Potter continued, getting a nod.

"How?" Daphne asked, curious.

"It allows the infection to create an immunity from the suppressant if constantly used," Watson explained. "Making it useless in the long run. Of course, there's also the side effects to consider."

"Side effects?" Fleur asked, looking worried.

Watson nodded before crying out in pain, clutching his arm as it shook violently. "NO!" he shouted as they moved to help him. "Focus on the Maledictus Cure, worry about me later!"

"Doc-"

"NO! Emma takes - ARGH - priority at all cost." Watson stated firmly, glaring as he fought through the pain. "The equipment has been set - AH - up already, I'll guide you throu-"

"Watson!" Fleur cried out as he collapsed, rushing besides him. "Harry, look for another suppressant - it looks like this."

Fleur then turned towards her as Potter began rummaging through the drawers nearby. "Daphne, you start making the cure - you're the best potioneer we have right now."

Daphne shot her French friend a lost look. "Fleur, I don't-"

"I'll guide you through it."

Everyone turned towards Watson as he sat there, grimacing through the pain. "Bring out the Rainbow Herb and Mandrake Potion." he began, wincing as he clutched his arm. "The last suppressant is in the freezer, Potter - topmost level, labeled Alpha. The partial cure is beside it - labeled Omega."

Potter immediately brought it while Daphne reluctantly brought out the potion and herb. "Potter, transfer the potion into that container over there." Watson instructed, sighing in relief as he plunged the suppressant into his arm. "Greengrass, remove the leaves and the roots of the herb - be careful, enough rubbing on the leaves turns them into powder."

"What's next doc?" Potter asked as Daphne carefully removed the leaves and roots. The leaves were delicate, forcing her to pluck them carefully from the herb, while the roots were flexible but chunky.

"Delacour, group the leaves into two sets of seven. Greengrass, dice those roots into 28 cubes - you can use the knife on the other table. Potter, how good are you with scientific machinery?"

"I'm rated for handling lab equipment, why?"

"Good, you're watching over them when the two use them." Watson stated, turning to Fleur, Daphne still chopping the roots. "Once done, bring the first set of leaves to that that machine over. Potter, make sure that a vial is attached to the machine's valve."

"What about the potion?" Daphne asked, wiping off sweat from her brow.

"That'll be next." Watson informed her. "Are the roots done?"

"Just made 14." Daphne replied, bunching them up together. "Where do you need them?"

"Potter, mix them into the Sonicator - yes, that machine, Delacour - along with the leaves. Once in, turn it on and let the machine do its work." Watson continued, growling in pain. "Delacour, get the vial with the potion into that cooler. Potter, set it to 40 Fahrenheit or 5 Celsius."

"Done!" Daphne exclaimed, grinning as she finished chopping the roots. "What's next?"

"Gather the remaining roots and leaves and put them into that blender." Watson ordered, pointing towards another weird-looking device. "Potter, once they're inside, make sure to lock the lid and blend it until they've become powder. Don't worry, there's a button there that'll tell you where to crank it up."

Just then, the…Sonicator (what a weird name to call the machine) and the chiller started beeping. "That was fast." Fleur said in surprise.

Potter snorted as the blender started beeping. "They're the industrial kind, of course they work fast." he replied, stopping the blender before moving to remove the two vials. "Next?"

"Inject Omega into the vial and then put both into that isolation glove box. Greengrass, detach the blender and put it in as well." Watson ordered, panting in pain. Fleur moved to help but he waved her off. "Don't mind me - Potter, is it done?"

Potter nodded, inserting the items into the weird, metal box with glove arms and a clear glass several inches thick. Once he secured it, he started pressing the small window beside the box's flap before putting his arms through the gloves. "Bring the tray forward and into your viewing screen. Once there, I want you to pour the Sonicator vial _ slowly _ into Potion vial." Watson stressed, watching him intently.

"Will the two react negatively?" Daphne aske, worried. They've braved through monstrous BOWs to make this cure and she'll be damned if it got wasted because of a potion accident.

Thankfully, Watson shook his head. "Once done, I want you to double check the glove box again and make sure all systems are green." he ordered sternly.

"All systems a-ok, doc!" Potter replied, checking a small window near the viewing port. "Do I pour the vial into the blender?"

"Pour it slowly and no matter what happens - Do. Not. Stop."

To their surprise, the moment Potter poured the potion, the blender began releasing rainbow-colored smoke that engulfed the inside of the container. "What the-"

"Don't stop, Potter!" Watson warned, glaring at him. "Keep pouring and wait for the smoke to sucked back into the blender."

True to his word, the smoke slowly returned to the blender. "What would have happened if we breathed that smoke?" Fleur asked, turning to the magical scientist.

"We die." he stated simply, watching as Potter as he shook the blender lightly. "Once you're done shaking, pour the contents back into the original vial then remove it from the glove box."

Suddenly, Daphne heard Emma moan in pain. "Emma!" she shouted worriedly, kneeling beside the child.

"Daphne…" Emma croaked, moaning in pain. "It…it hurts…"

Daphne shot Watson a look. "Do we make her drink it?"

Watson shook his head before crying out in pain, falling off his chair. "Potter, attach the vial to the injector gun!" he groaned out as Fleur propped him to the wall. "Greengrass, grab the transforming arm and expose the crook, now!"

Following the instructions, Daphne grabbed the arm as it slowly grew a familiar dust-colored fur. Pausing, she immediately pried Emma's eyes open to see unfocused yellow, lamp-like eyes like…

"Meow…" Looking at the floor, Daphne saw the same lamp-like eyes of Mrs. Norris stare back at her, tilting her head as if asking "Yes?"

"Realized it now, haven't you?" Watson said smugly, startling her. "Now you know why Argus hates every single one of you."

Daphne could feel her stomach churn, wanting to vomit out. She couldn't believe it - all these years, every single student has hated was a woman cursed to be stuck into the form of a cat…and nobody stopped to ask why Argus was so attached to the cat. "May Magic forgive us…"

"Greengrass, what's wrong?" Potter asked, looking worriedly at her. "Hey, is that Mrs. Norris?"

"She'll tell you later," Watson said, opening his hand out. With the cure at hand, he turned to Daphne. "Greengrass, the arm?"

Numbly, she grabbed the gun and injected the cure into the crook of the arm. Within moments, the fur started to disappear as Emma stopped shifting from pain, a relieved smile forming on her face. "I…I don't believe it!" Daphne exclaimed happily, smiling widely. "It's actually happening!"

"We're not out of the-" Watson began, only to cut himself as fell to the floor, shaking.

"He's having a seizure!" Potter shouted, Fleur trying to steady the scientist as he rushed to Watson's aid. "Hold him!"

"Uncle…" Emma groggily said, rubbing her eyes as she tried to sit up.

"Hey," Daphne greeted, trying to distract the child from seeing her uncle having a fit. Thankfully, it had subsided as Emma fully awoke. "Your uncle just fell on the floor."

"Must have slipped since I was so happy you're awake, squirt." Watson added as he flopped onto the bed, Daphne shooting the two to not say anything. "How you feeling."

"I'm fine, I guess...what happened?" Emma asked, yawning. "And I'm hungry."

The tension broke, everyone laughing as the five year old's stomach growled. "There's some food in my bedroom. Why don't you three go there and eat." Watson continued, Emma getting off the bed with a bright smile on her face. "Greengrass and I will follow shortly afterwards."

"Go, I'll be fine." Daphne urged, giving a fake smile to Potter and Fleur. Although suspicious, the Gryffindor gave a nod before following Fleur out of the room as she led Emma upstairs. Once they were alone, she dropped her smile and turned to Watson, who was finally on the bed with Mrs. Norris on his chest. "What do you want?"

Watson didn't answer, merely content to scratch the cat's ears. "Did you know it was Bellatrix Lestrange who gave my sister the Maledictus Curse?" he said softly, not meeting her eyes. "My older sister, Mary Norris Watson, who was merely an innocent bystander, was cursed to become a cat."

He gave her a tired look. "Twenty years, Greengrass, twenty years of research and experiments just to create a cure." he said sadly, chuckling. "Mistakes were made along the way but I learned from them so I can reach this point."

Watson then started coughing up blood as his body slowly started shaking, Daphne kneeling beside him, full of concern. Mrs. Norris gave a mournful meow, as if realizing something. "I lied about having Lycanthropy - I activated the Maledictus Curse in me."

"Im-impossible!" Daphne gasped. "The Maledictus is-"

"-is hard coded to appear in women only." he replied, coughing. "I'll spare you the details but I convinced the curse to think I'm a woman and…well, I'm feeling the side effects.

"I won't lie, Greengrass, I still hate you purebloods but you seem okay," Watson said weakly, grimacing as he pulled out a small book from his coat. "Which is why I'm giving you this. This journal contains everything I've discovered throughout the years - from my thoughts on the T-Mage to the steps I took to make the cure."

"W-why?" Daphne asked, gently accepting the journal.

He chuckled before grimacing from the pain. "Your sister…has a blood malediction, yes?" he replied, getting a nodded. "Then use my notes to cure your sister from it - consider this my payment for saving my niece."

Daphne's jaws opened as she stared at him. "I…I don't have your knowledge or skills!" she tried to counter, feeling distraught. "Morgana, I don't even know how to operate any of the machines here!"

"And did that stop you from helping Emma?" Watson countered, grinning softly. "You're a good person, Greengrass, and I know I can trust you to use my notes to help the world."

"Meow!" Mrs. Norris meowed, as if telling her to accept it.

She gulped before shrinking the journal, pocketing it. "I'll try my best…"

He merely smirked. "Do, there is no try." he said, grimacing in pain. "Now, I want you to kill me."

"What?"

"Kill me, Greengrass." Watson ordered softly, Mrs. Norris rubbing her head on his hand. "The Maledictus is slowly destroying my body, payment for messing with the laws of Magic."

"The-there's go-got to be a suppressant or-or something!" Daphne stuttered, looking about frantically.

Watson shook his head. "There's nothing more you can do now, Greengrass - I'm dying." he said with full acceptance. "I'll rather go out painlessly then suffer for a few more hours."

"You want me to use the Killing Curse." she stated, understanding what he was referring too. "Watson…"

"Grant me this one last wish, Greengrass." he begged softly. "I already have an express ticket to Hell and I'll rather go out on my terms."

**# # # | # # #**

It had been a day after Daphne and Tori said goodbye to their mother Arya since she was 'going to sleep forever' as her father Gendry explained to them and here she was, lying on her bed unable to sleep. Making a quick decision, she jumped out of bed and headed downstairs for the kitchen, hoping to get some snacks without Minsy's help to prove to Father she was responsible enough. However, she discovered the kitchen wasn't empty as she originally thought.

"Auntie?" seven-year-old Daphne asked as she spotted Aunt Sansa drinking a bottle of what Father called 'Adult Drink' when she asked about it once. "You're still awake?"

She tilted her head, wondering why Aunt Sansa's eyes were puffy and red like she was crying. "He-hey, Daphne…" she hiccupped, smiling sadly. "Come here, will you?"

"Are you okay, Auntie?" she asked, hugging her as tears fell down her aunt's face. "Why are you crying?"

Aunt Sansa returned the hugged, ignoring her question. "Daphne," she hiccupped, gently lifting her chin. "Am I a bad person?"

Daphne gave her a weird look. "Auntie, you're the best aunt anyone could ask for!"

She gave her a sad smile. "I'm the one who place Arya to sleep…"

"Then maybe you can wake her again!" she said brightly.

Shaking her head, Aunt Sansa cupped her face. "I can't Daphne…my spell can't be bro-broken."

"Then why did you do it?"

Aunt Sansa looked faraway, as if haunted by something. "Because she was in pain."

**# # # | # # #**

Daphne was eleven when she realized what her aunt meant, having overheard a Ravenclaw muggleborn talk to his friends about how his parents told his little sister that they had to their dog 'to sleep' because he was always in pain. Making the connection, she confronted Father and Aunt Sansa when she came home for the holidays, making sure Tori was asleep when she told them. Her father merely sighed while her aunt stared at her calmly, not flinching when she accused her directly. Once done, her aunt brought out the family pensive, casted a spell to allow multiple people to view a memory, brought out a bottle of wine, before showing her the day her mother died.

Mother really wanted to die.

It still shocked Daphne how much shouting Father and Mother had as Aunt Sansa watched on, trying to hold back tears as her mother pleaded to both to end her life. Once it ended, the two of them held her close as she cried, fully knowing the truth. "Will…did you at least leave a letter for Emma?" she asked, surprising him.

"Ye - ack - yeah," Watson said, clutching his stomach in pain. "It's in the…the journal I gave you. Make sure - cough - to give it to her when…when she's ten."

Daphne nodded, summoning all the negative emotions she was currently experiencing. "Any…any last words?"

Watson nodded as she neared, Mrs. Norris rubbing her head against his chin. "I…I proved all you purebloods wrong, Greengrass - make them realize that."

" _ Avada Kedavra. _ " she casted softly, tapping her wand over his heart. A slow pulse of warm, green light spread slowly throughout his body. Watson closed his eyes, smiling peacefully as the curse finally ended his life. Mrs. Norris gave a mournful howl as Daphne sunk to her knees, crying as she realized how Aunt Sansa must have felt.

Dr. John Watson was dead…and the magical world lost its brightest wizard because of their pettiness. Drying her tears, Daphne stood up as she raised her wand "I promise on my family's magic." she said, shivering as she felt the Greengrass Magic bind her oath. "I will honor your wishes and change our world for the better."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you have noticed, Daphne here went through a redemption-styled arc where she is forced to see how dirty her view is and then makes a promise to change for the better - especially she now inherited the research of Watson.  
> For any potential haters after seeing this chapter (especially with the fact that Watson activated the Maledictus curse in him), please be reminded that RE science has done some the impossible (weird creatures, mind boggling viruses, etc) so I can safely say that Watson could have done it since he had the backing of Umbrella.  
> We also now approach the last chapters of this fic - Part 6 will be a finale while a chapter 7 will be a reaction chapter of sort where the rest of the students and teachers react to what Harry and Daphne experience throughout their ordeal. Now, for those who want to know what will happen after everyone is rescued, don't worry - I plan to make a new story that deals with the aftermath of Devolution that picks up RIGHT BEFORE they are rescued. I have a tentative plot already that involves...other tie ins I plan to write in the future.


	6. Harry and Daphne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Line Break - **# # # # # # # # # #**
> 
> Flashback - **# # # | # # #**
> 
> Speaking - "Word"
> 
> Thoughts - _'Word'_

Chapter 6: September 2, 1998 | 0150 Hours | Room of Requirements, Hogwarts Dorm

Harry stared at the Slytherin before her with worry. "Hey, you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" Greengrass mumbled without a bite, swirling the soup before her.

"We're worried, Daph." Fleur said as she arrived with a tray of hot food. "You've been swirling that soup while we're in our second heaping."

Casting a Muffling Charm on them, he cleared his throat. "What happened downstairs, Greengrass?" Harry asked, concerned. "Your comments to Emma made us worry."

Indeed, when Emma asked where Watson was, Greengrass merely hugged the girl and said, "Your uncle will be sleeping forever, Emma and he told me to tell you he loves you so much." The child merely shrugged but Harry and Fleur exchanged looks - Greengrass killed Watson but why? Thankfully, they were having this conversation with Emma fast asleep nearby, Mrs. Norris cuddling her.

"Watson somehow got the Maledictus Curse - don't ask me how, I have no idea." Daphne answered sadly. "He gave me all his research notes before asking me to kill him."

"And you did." Harry stated without judgment, getting a nod.

"I did and I feel like an arsehole for doing so." Greengrass replied miserably. ""Am I a murderer?"

"Does the Wizarding World have laws on euthanasia?" Harry asked. He knew the debate on mercy killings was kind of a hot button topic in the muggle world but he had no idea when it came to magic.

The two girls nodded. "It depends on certain cases," Greengrass explained, eating a scoop of soup. "But the Ministry - or rather, the pureblood families - is very strict about it given the decline of magical births happening."

"Same goes for the French Ministry," Fleur added. "Though ours makes sure that both the patient and their family agree to the idea."

"There you go!" Harry pointed out. "We can argue that what you did to Watson was an act of mercy."

Greengrass was silent, contemplating on his words. "We can deal with it later." she decided with finality. "What's our next move?"

"We bring the fight to Spencer." Harry stated, grinning. Thankfully, Watson had shown Fleur where Spencer was hiding while the two of them were running around Hogwarts. "She somehow built a hideout underneath the boathouse by the Great Hall - Fleur knows how to get in."

"We smash our way in and wrest control from Spencer before calling in the cavalry." Fleur continued. "Let's just hope she has a phone in it."

Greengrass snorted. "Who are we calling, the Ministry?"

"No we're calling…" Harry began before recalling a memory.

**# # # | # # #**

"I want you to take this." Sirius said with a grin as he gave Harry a mirror as they stood in the living room of Grimmauld Place.

Taking one look at the mirror, he raised a brow. "Okay…"

"Now," his Godfather began as he held up a similar mirror. "I want you to say my name as you look at it. I'll be outside, okay?"

Harry looked at him weirdly as he left the living room but complied. "Sirius Bl-Holy shit!" he exclaimed as he saw said person grinning madly at him. "What in Merlin's name is this!"

Sirius laughed loudly. "It's a little thing your dad and I cooked up back in the day, whenever we're given separate detentions." He replied. "Think magical mobiles but only for calls. Now, you can call me anytime you need tips in dating, sex, foo-"

"SIRIUS!"

**# # # | # # #**

"...bloody fuck, I'm an idiot." Harry finished, smashing his head on the table. He then proceeded to tell what his godfather had given him before he left for Hogwarts.

"We were in the Gryffindor Tower earlier, Potter." Greengrass deadpanned. "You couldn't have remembered it then?"

"Enough!" Fleur cut firmly. "We can bicker about this later. Now we won't have to worry if Spencer has a phone or not."

Greengrass sighed, pursing her lips. "Fine, what now?"

"We rest." Harry stated, yawning. "We've been awake for almost 24 hours - I think we can all use the rest."

Greengrass stretched her arms out, yawning. "Agreed," she said, standing up. "I'll sleep with Emma."

The two watched her spoon Emma before falling asleep quickly, Mrs. Norris snuggling Emma. "She's not telling us something," Fleur pointed out as Harry ended the Muffling Charm.

Harry nodded, giving her a look. "Give her time, Fleur." he cautioned. "Unlike the two of us, this is the first Bioterror Attack she experienced."

The French veela sighed. "I guess…" she replied, pursing her lips. "Can…can I ask about Raccoon City?" When he nodded, Fleur took a deep breath. "Did…did you ever kill an uninfected person?"

"Yeah, I did." Harry replied, remembering Irons. "The Police Chief kidnapped Sherry and I in the middle of an apocalypse."

"You were kidnapped?"

"Irons was a loony, the stress of the entire thing getting to him." he recalled, wincing. "Enough to try and stuff the mayor's daughter if I hadn't killed him."

Seeing Fleur's shocked expression, Harry laughed. "Not kidding, that was his plan. I'm just glad Sherry and I managed to save Kat before Irons could actually kill her."

"I see…"

"You killed someone, didn't you?" he stated a moment later, getting a nod.

"He...he was going to rape me." Fleur replied quietly, suddenly looking small. "We…we were looking for food when he jumped me. It happened so fast that the next thing I knew, he was clutching his face screaming while both my hands were on fire."

She shivered, as if remembering it. "I…a BOW heard the scream and…and I ran away." she muttered shamefully, crying. "I didn't…"

"Hey, it's okay - you survived and that's what counts." Harry replied, moving beside her to comfort her. "Things like this happen in Bioterror Attacks and you responded the best you could - trust me, I could tell you the stories Claire showed me one time I interned for TerraSave."

Fleur sniffed. "Really?"

He nodded, remembering all the stories that sent shivers down his spine. "You're a survivor, Fleur, always remember that." he repeated firmly. "Now, get some sleep, we're going to need it."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

Contrary to what they believe, Daphne merely closed and tried to sleep. Instead she had to overhear Potter and Fleur's conversation, thinking over how both had to kill a person just to survive the attack. Granted, she had killed someone as well…but hers was more of a request rather than a necessity. "Knut for your thoughts?" Potter asked, startling her. The two were waiting by the doorway for Fleur and Emma, looking for a cat carrier for Mrs. Norris. "You have this sad look on your face ever since you woke up."

She sighed, not even arguing about it. It was already 5:30 in the morning, with the sun coming up in the eastern sky (at least according to the cameras). "I overheard your conversation last night." she replied truthfully. "You two have it worse than I have."

"And there are more people who had it worse." he countered, crossing his arms. "Don't over think this Greengrass, we're surviving and that's what matters."

"What matters?" Fleur asked as she and Emma arrive, the child wearing a pink backpack with a circular window.

"Greengrass being dramatic," Potter replied, yelping when she slapped him. Hard. "Ow!"

"Stow it, Potter." Daphne deadpanned before turning to Emma. "You ready, squirt?"

"Yeah!" Emma exclaimed happily before pouting. "I just wish Uncle Jonny would wake up and say goodbye."

Daphne shuffled, crouching before Emma. "Emma…" she began, trying to recall how Aunt Sansa broke it to her and Tori when their mother died. "Watson's…Watson's never going to wake up, Emma."

"Like Mommy?"

She paused, not sure if she should say that Mrs. Norris  _ is _ her mother. "But…" she said instead, changing the subject. "He did give me a letter he wants you to read when you're ten."

Emma gaped. "But that's five years from now!" she whined, pouting. Daphne laughed and merely ruffled her head before standing up.

"Alright, here's the plan." Potter began, hefting his shotgun. "We head for the Gryffindor Tower to get my mirror, I contact Sirius to inform the French Ministry and the BSAA, we head for Spencer's hideout, kick her ass, and get everyone out of here."

"How are the French going to help?" Daphne asked, curious as the metal doors slid open, Potter rushing out to check the hallway. "And this BSAA for that matter?"

"Set up an extraction point, get as many survivors out, then sweep and clean." Fleur stated as they single filed out of Watson's lab. "I take it the BSAA has something far more concrete?"

Potter nodded as he led them towards the Grand Staircase. "In our situation, BSAA would use the Raccoon Protocol." he replied as they went down it. "It has three phases: Stake, Extract, Clean.

"Phase 1 is Stake, where BSAA is mobilized to quarantine the area around the Bioterror Attack within three days. They try to make sure nobody except them enters or exits the surrounding area - survivors are quarantined upon reaching the lines, checked for infection, and the wounded treated for injuries. Meanwhile, fireteams nicknamed Raiders are sent into secure safe zones within the immediate area for use during Phase 2.

"Once Phase 1 is complete, Phase 2 begins." Potter continued as they reached the sixth floor. "Raiders begin combing the affected area for survivors and redirect or escort them to the safe zones set up during Phase 1 for quarantine. Meanwhile, those quarantined during Phase 1 are released if they're considered 'clean' by BSAA. If not…more bodybags."

"What's a bodybag?" Emma then asked, surprising them all. Daphne shot Potter a look while Fleur just laughed, muttering something about a grave.

At least Potter had the decency to look sheepish, that cute grin of his appearing on his face. "Err...you remember the monsters chasing us right now?" he tried, getting a nod from Emma. "Well…that's where we put them so they won't chase us anymore."

' _ Nice save,' _ Daphne thought as Emma seemed to accept that definition. "Phase 3 is they cleanse the entire place, I take it?" Fleur asked as they left the fifth floor.

Potter nodded as they reached the Fat Lady. "Diagonalley." he said as the painting swung outward. He let them enter first, Emma gasping in wonder as she gazed into the room as he closed the door. "More or less. Now wait here, let me just get that damn mirror."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

"So...how does it work?" Greengrass asked, staring at the mirror on his hand.

"Watch and learn, ladies." Harry said, grinning as he held it before him. "Sirius Black!"

Nothing happened. "SIRIUS BLACK!" he shouted again, his godfather still not appearing. The girls tried to stifle their laughter as he glared back, hoping Sirius didn't give him a gag gift. "SIRIU-"

"Merlin Harry, I heard you the first time!" Sirius exclaimed angrily, rubbing his eyes as he appeared in the mirror. "You just had to cockblock me, you know?"

Harry groaned as Greengrass covered Emma's ears immediately. "Seriously, you're having sex the moment I'm out of the house?"

"Oi, man talk later Harry!" Fleur burst out, slamming the door shut. "Argus is downstairs!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Sirius laughed loudly, grinning at him. Harry mentally cursed, trying to think on how they were going to get out. "Is that a girl wi-"

"Sirius!" Harry cut angrily, getting a laugh from his godfather. "Listen, remember that place you picked me up this summer? I need you to go there and tell the receptionist that there's a Level 3 Outbreak in Hogwarts."

"Who's the girl-"

"SHUT IT!" Harry shouted, glaring at him to shut up. Surprisingly, it worked - his godfather was too shocked to continue. "If anyone ask who told you this, tell them you're Agent Griffin's godfather - Director O'Brian will take care of the rest."

Immediately ending the call, he turned toward Greengrass and Fleur. "Any ideas?"

Their Slytherin companion growled angrily while Fleur shook her head sadly. "I'm open to yours."

Harry was about to say no when he paused.  _ 'It might just work…'  _ "Either of you know how to fly a broom?" he asked, getting them to raise their hands.

' _ Thank God I have five extra in my truck.'  _ " _ Accio Three Emergency Brooms _ !" Harry casted, three Cleansweep Seven flew out of the dorms and landed before him. "Get one and be ready to fly out."

"I…I may have an idea." Greengrass replied with a gleaming look in her eyes before whipping out her wand and casting what he thought would be the most powerful Blasting Curse he has ever seen. The wall before them was immediately replaced with a large hole, the smell of morning dew filtering into the air.

"That's…one way of out of here." Fleur commented, snapping Greengrass out of her flustered (yet strangely cute) look.

"We'll deal with it later, mount your brooms." Harry said, mounting his. "Come on, let's go."

They quickly flew out of the Gryffindor hole, getting to the boathouse in record time. Thankfully, the BOWs were far enough that they didn't get attacked upon dismounting. "Look for the Umbrella sign!" Fleur ordered as they entered. "It acts as an elevator button."

"Found it!" Harry shouted, immediately spotting the red and white logo of the Umbrella Corp. Pressing it, the patch of floor he was on started going down. "Shit, everyone get on!"

"You said a bad word!" Emma exclaimed as he made space so all of them could fit.

"Ow!" Harry protested when Greengrass slapped him on the shoulders. "What was that?"

"Apologize." the Slytherin ordered sternly. At his bewildered expression, she titled her head towards Emma, who was looking at Harry expectantly. "Good people don't say bad words - isn’t that right Emma?"

Seeing Emma nod, Harry sighed as the floor stopped lowering in front of a metal door. "Sorry for saying a bad word, Emma." he apologized as the door slid open, revealing a long, empty corridor with a door at the end. "Alright, everyone behind me."

They slowly walked down, Harry leading the group with his shotgun out. Upon reaching the door, he looked back at his companions before slowly opening it to reveal... "This…this is unexpected," he muttered as they entered.

"What were you expecting?" Fleur asked in confusion, looking around.

"Well…" Harry began, staring at the room that looked like it belonged at an exotic five-star hotel in Dubai, complete with a bed, 12-inch TV, a table for two, romantic lights, and a fridge. "I was expecting a villainous lair."

Seeing their confused looks, Harry continued. "You know…throne-like chair, evil atmosphere, probably a bit of lava here or there, and Spencer giving an evil smile - that sort of thing?"

"But that's too cliché!"

Suddenly, all three of them pointed their weapons at the image of a pouting Spencer and a handsome, Englishman sitting by the table. "Evil liars are  _ so _ boring and stuffy."

"Mary…" the man warned, sounding like someone from a noble family.

"You know it's true, Jake." Spencer countered, smiling Harry. "Harry dear already listed them out."

The man shot them an embarrassed smile. "Apologies for my wife, she can be a handful. Jacob Johnson, pleasure to meet you." he said, offering his hand. When he didn't take on it, he laughed. "Silly me, I'm a hologram so you won't be able to shake it."

"What do you want?" Harry asked bluntly.

"I like you - straight to the point." Johnson replied, grinning. "Very well, I'll take your offer: I'm here to reward you."

"Why would you reward Harry?" Emma asked, confused. "Oh, hi Mary, Jacob!"

"Harry dear here helped me a lot, Emma honey." Spencer replied sweetly. "And you remember what your daddy and Uncle Jonny told you about people helping you, right?"

Emma's face lit up. "You should always pay them for their help!" she recalled proudly.

"You get the chocolate, Emma!" Johnson exclaimed happily. "Now, why doesn't Ms. Greengrass bring you to that tiny room over there to eat and read there?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jake!" Spencer added, smiling widely. "We also need to have to adult talk with your friends Emma, so Daphne dear is going to cast a spell so you won't hear us, okay?"

"That sounds...wonderful." Harry said, warily eyeing the two. "Greengrass?"

Although it looked like she didn't like it, Greengrass led Emma to the room Spencer pointed out and casted a Muffling Charm. "What do you want?" Fleur asked, arms crossed as Daphne returned.

"We have a couple things to discuss, actually." Johnson replied, steeping his fingers and crossing his legs.

"First off, we want you to make sure Emma won't be dragged into this Bioterror Business we all have going until she's 20." Spencer began, turning serious for once. "Once 20, she is set to inherit the ownership of Tricell Corp - a company Watson created and we help fund discreetly."

"Wait, Watson created Tricell?" Harry asked, surprised. That company was making waves as the leading pharmaceutical company in the world, toppling Umbrella. "I thought the three of you used Umbrella only?"

"Tricell has no ties to any of this." Johnson stated firmly, narrowing his eyes at him. "Everything we used - money, research, equipment - are all Umbrella."

"But-"

"Potter!" Greengrass growled before glaring at the two. "She's already dragged into this because of you!"

"No, Watson was the one who dragged her into it." Spencer corrected. "Besides, consider it compensation for all the problems Emma would face in the future."

"And leaving a multi-billion, global company for her to manage is the way to go?" Harry pointed out.

"Tricell is the future of pharmaceutical medicine." Spencer stated firmly. "With Emma at the head, it will become the leading figure in magical and non-magical medicine."

Now Harry was confused - from the very start, he had believed that Spencer was as crazy as Wesker, calling for a new dawn of humanity. But now… "What's your agenda?" he asked finally, looking at the two firmly.

The couple exchanged looks, suddenly looking tired. "We want to change the world, Harry dear - the Wizarding world to be precise."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

"We want to change the world, Harry dear - the Wizarding world to be precise." Spencer declared boldly.

Daphne blinked in surprise, not expecting that statement. "...why?" she asked incredulously. "No - seriously, why?"

Johnson gave her an unimpressed look. "How are those who came from the non-magical world treated here, Ms. Greengrass?"

' _ Oh…' _ she realized. "You want to be treated as something equal - not as a mud on someone's boot."

"As equals - not something equal, there's a difference, Daphne dear." Spencer corrected, smirking. "To do that, we needed to prove that the non-magical world is way more advanced than magic."

"Bio-Organic Weapons." Potter guessed, frowning. "Because wizards won't be able to understand how a single drop of this virus could turn someone into a dangerous monster."

"Correct." Johnson said, smiling. "And when all hope is lost, muggle technology barges in with something to fix it, making-"

"-making the entire magical world realize that muggles aren't backwards but far more advance." Fleur guessed as shock colored her face.

"Which is why you're using Umbrella as a fall guy to make sure it doesn't blow up when Tricell steps in." Potter continued. "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or not at what you did."

"I'll go for impressed," Daphne commented, realizing what they were playing. With Umbrella, a company with a history of doing such things, taking the blame, this Tricell would be seen as saviors and nobody would see the connection the two had. Not only that, the Wizarding World would see how dangerous and powerful muggles could be if they can create and cure a virus of this magnitude. "Well played, well played indeed."

"I'm surprised, Ms. Greengrass," Johnson said, looking at her critically. "I would have thought you would be the first to be offended by this."

"Oh I'm offended by this." she replied, snorting. "But after going through the shit you gave me, I think it's high time we magicals remove the stick out of our arses."

All that was true - everything Watson told her and her journey with Potter made her realize that the non-magical world has many more things to offer and, in the end, that the magical society would need in the future. "Don't worry about Emma's future, I'll take care of it - you have my world as a Greengrass."

Everyone was silent, surprise and shock evident on their faces. "I…thank you, Daphne." Spencer said sincerely, her smug voice absent. "I hope you and Harry can find a way to cure your sister."

"This doesn't make us friends, understood?" Daphne stated firmly.

Spencer laughed at the notion. "Wouldn't think of it, Daphne dear."

"You do realize I gave an oath to kill you, Spencer." Potter pointed out, looking unamused.

"We will pay for our sins, Mr. Potter," Johnson answered, lovingly holding his wife's hand. "What better way to go out than by being hunted by the 'Boy Who Lived Twice'?"

"I've made my bed, Harry dear," Spencer answered, smiling. "You'll get your due."

Fleur chuckled, no doubt amused with everything that transpired. "You two had us on the first half, not gonna lie."

"What's the other things you wanted to ask us?" Potter asked, looking curious.

"Almost forgot about that!" Spencer replied, clapping his hands together. "Check that chest over there."

What the Gryffindor brought out was something Daphne had seen once in a movie Tracy forced her to watch once, about a…robot sent from the future to protect a child who would send said robot back into the past to protect him. Honestly, that movie was weird - there was a lot of explosions, fighting, and boring lines that went over her head but Tracy seemed to love it. "You're giving me a minigun?"

"It's called a Magical Energy Weapon - MEW in short." Johnson corrected. "It transforms the surrounding magical energy -"

"-it's a magical laser minigun." Spencer interrupted, smirking. "After all, you're going to need something to clear a path for BSAA, right?"

**# # # # # # # # # #**

"I fucking hate Spencer." Harry announced as the elevator stopped. Thankfully, the boathouse and its steps were warded, preventing the BOWs from entering - problem was, they were blocking the path to the Great Hall.

Greengrass sighed, shooting him an unamused look as they exited the boathouse. "I think we established that since this whole debacle began, Potter."

"Did Mary do something wrong?" Emma asked, looking at him. "And you said a bad word!"

"I'll give you a knut later, Emma." Harry replied tiredly, hefting his Featherweight Charmed MEW. "Be ready to run."

Before the conversation ended, Spencer had said that she installed a BOW signal emitter just above the Great Hall doors. While it might hold against a horde of zombies drawn to the signal, she wasn't sure if the doors would hold against G-Argus to the trio's horror. "Ready," Fleur said, carrying Emma while wearing Mrs. Norris' cat carrier backpack.

"FUCK YOU SPENCER!" Harry roared as he mowed down the mini horde of BOWs as he walked out of the warded area. Behind him, Greengrass finished off any stragglers that he missed while Fleur waited for the signal.

"Go!" she ordered Fleur and Emma once the area was clear, the two running quickly towards the entrance of the Great Hall, the two of them bringing up the rear.

Thankfully, Spencer kept her word and the doors opened into the Great Hall, allowing them all to enter it before Harry slammed it shut. "Fucking hell yes," he exclaimed, dropping the MEW on the ground after backing away from the doors. "We-"

He was cut short as he was suddenly tackled by Ron and Hermione. "Damnit Harry, don't ever scare us again!" she reprimanded him before pulling him into another tight hug. Greengrass herself was tackled by her sister while Tracy ( _ 'Where did she get that armor?' _ ) looked at him and gave a small nod of thanks.

"Yeah mate," Ron quipped, looking relieved. "I get you have healing powers now but don't push it, yeah?"

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, bewildered. Looking around, he saw the tables and benches were now placed in a three-tiered defensive position with heavily armored students standing guard with shields out. "How did that happen?"

"Spencer televised everything you did." Hermione replied sadly. "And I mean everything."

"EVERYTHING?" Greengrass screamed, Astoria and Tracy wincing at the volume.

"Only until you four entered the boathouse." Tracy replied, making him sigh in relief. "What happened back there?"

"Too complicated to explain in detail right now." Harry said.  _ 'Not a lie but…close enough.' _

"Where's Daddy?"

' _ Fuck…'  _ Harry swore mentally. He hadn't even discussed how to break it to Emma that Argus was the one chasing her since last night. Suddenly, after spotting the man that indirectly killed his parents, he had a brilliant idea. "Professor Snape!" he said joyfully, pushing his way to clap him on the back rather forcibly. "So good of you to join us!"

Holding him tightly, he dragged him before Emma, noting how he was squirming. "Why don't you tell Emma where her father is,  _ professor. _ " he said with a touch of hate in his tone, drawing gasps from those around him. "After all, you seem good at revealing the hiding place of people."

Silence - complete and utter silence followed after Harry made his declaration loudly. If what Hermione said was true, then everyone saw the incident with the tape recorder - sure, he made a promise not to punch the slimy git to Greengrass but that didn't mean he had the right to make his life miserable. "Fleur, I need that mirror." he stated coldly, shoving Snape forward as he headed away from them. "I need to check in on Sirius."

"Was that really necessary?" Greengrass asked, her sister following her as the two march to where Fleur stood.

"Necessary, no - therapeutic, yes." he replied as Fleur handed the mirror, looking slightly amused. "Sirius Black."

"Harry!" his godfather exclaimed, slightly disheveled but otherwise awake. "Is-"

"Have you contacted O'Brian yet?" Harry cut in, no mood for games.

Instead of answering, Sirius was replaced with the face of the calm-looking Director Clive O'Brian. "Director, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." he said happily. "Sitrep?"

"Dragon Flight's in the AO, waiting for the signal." O'Brian replied. "Once we get everyone portkeyed, we're pulling out."

That surprised Harry - pulling out meant Raiders won't have a staging ground when Phase 3 begins. "Sir, if we pull out-"

"I completely understand your concern, Harry." he cut, pursing his lips, clearly displeased with the order. "Minister Fudge, on the other hand, has ordered me to abandon Hogwarts once we have everyone out."

Biting his lip, Harry nodded before handing it back to Fleur. "Fleur, give the frequency we're using for the radio." he ordered, grabbing his MEW from the ground. "Follow his instructions while I clear out the LZ."

Greengrass grabbed him by the arm. "I'm going with you." she said fiercely, eyes narrowing.

"Me too Harry!" Ron said, some of the teachers and students voicing their request as well.

Putting his foot down, he shook his head. "No - getting you out is top priority." Harry said firmly, narrowing his eyes at all of them. "If any of you die it's on me. Same goes for you-"

"Potter, Spencer made it personal by forcing me to participate in this test." Greengrass said, eyes blazing with anger. "I'll be damned if I don't see this to the end."

"-Fleur." he ended, amused as the Slytherin blushed furiously upon realizing his talk wasn't aimed at her. "Ready to end this, Greengrass?"

"Sh-shut up!" Greengrass mumbled, still red. Schooling herself, she turned towards her sister. "Tori-"

"Emma's in safe hands, don't worry." Astoria reassured, smiling softly before turning towards him. "House Greengrass owes you a great debt, Potter, for saving my sister."

Harry merely rolled his eyes.  _ 'Pureblood politics...'  _ "Consider it paid once we get out of here." he replied getting a snort from the older Greengrass. "Come on - we got monsters to kill."

**# # # # # # # # # #**

" _ FULMINATA _ !" Daphne casted loudly, lighting arching from her wand as it connected with the numerous BOWs running towards them, turning to ash immediately.

Turning around, she saw Potter slam the door shut before pointing his MEW towards another group of BOWs, killing them with a salvo of multicolored spell-shaped lights coming out of the thin barrels of his weapons. "Entrance Hall, now!"

Daphne ran after the Gryffindor, wand at the ready in case any more BOWs pop up. Upon reaching open courtyard, he pulled out his wand and launched a red light into the air. "Agent Griffin, this is Dragon 1-1." a female voice announced over her earpiece. "We see your flare, heading there now."

Suddenly, Daphne started hearing a buzzing sound before a long, metal object that shouldn't be flying appeared into her view. "UH-60 Blackhawk, in case you're wondering." Potter said, seeing her bewildered look. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"It may be black but that does not look like a hawk, Potter." she pointed out, feeling confused. "What is it with Muggles and naming things that doesn't even look like their names? I mean, the minigun isn't tiny!"

He had the audacity to laugh as the Blackhawk hovered several feet above them, releasing two ropes down. Before she could question what they were for, her jaw dropped when armored people started sliding down them. "Agent Griffin?" one of them asked as the remaining encircled them, bearing muggle weapons pointed outwards. "Captain Cooper! Where's the Safe Zone?"

"That way!" she replied, trying to make her voice heard over the loud buzz of Dragon 1-1. "Look for the-"

A loud roar, eerily similar to G-Argus', drowned her response. "GO! We'll draw it away from you!" Potter shouted, pointing Cooper towards the Great Hall. "Dragon 1-1, get out of here now!"

"How are you going to get out?" Captain Cooper asked as his team ran into that direction.

"Leave that to us!" Daphne ordered as the roar got progressively louder and nearer. "Go!"

"Can you AK it?" Potter asked as they faced the direction where the roar was coming from, the Quad to be exact. Seeing her confused look, he continued. "You know,  _ Avada Kedavra _ \- AK."

Before she could retort that was probably the stupidest thing to call the Killing Curse, they hear a loud crash before spotting Argus land on the roof. It roared at them in primal anger, folding its wings before jumping down, cracking the floor as it towered a few feet before them. " _ Arresto Mumento _ !" Daphne casted…only for Argus to swat it away. "Well, shit."

"Run?"

"Run."

Argus screamed at them as they immediately ran away, adrenaline pumping into their veins as they tore through the empty Entrance Hall. Thankfully, the BSAA rescue team was already inside the Great Hall, meaning the two of them were the only ones in danger of dying. "To the lake!" Potter screamed, firing off his MEC as she casted a Blasting Curse. "Ask Dragon 1-1 for help!"

"Uh…Dragon 1-1, a little help here!" Daphne shouted, hand pressing on her earpiece, casting a Slippery Jinx on the floor as they exited to the area near the boathouse. "Big BOW after us!"

"Negative ma'am, we got no weapons on board." Dragon 1-1 replied, making the Slytherin cursed as she casted an Exploding Charm on Argus as he fell for her jinx. "We-wait, were getting new contacts!"

"Dragon 1-1, this is Seeker Flight, in bound and hot!" a male voice exclaimed, just as a flight of broomsticks streaked overhead, releasing a volley of red spells on Argus that only annoyed him more.

"Oliver?" Potter asked, surprise in his voice. "What the hell?"

"Tell you later!" their earpiece crackled as the Seeker Flight made another attack run, Argus shrugging them off. "Damnit, our spells won't work!"

"Use a Blasting Curse or Explosion Charm!" she offered, launching a barrage of ice-shaped spikes at Argus. "Or dark spells if you want to!"

Oliver didn't reply but when they passed again, she smirked when she saw the telltale signs of Blasting Curses hurting Argus. "Now were talking!" Potter exclaimed happily, firing off his MEW. "Greengrass, end it now!"

Gathering all the negative emotions she could feel now, she pointed her wand in time as Argus turned towards her. " _ Avada Kedavra! _ " Daphne casted, the green light of death hitting Argus directly on his chest. Time stood still as giant BOW stood there, staring silently at her as Potter pointed MEW at the school caretaker. Suddenly, he gave a loud scream of pain as his mutated form started getting smaller and smaller until all that was left was the naked body of Argus Flinch, lying on the ground, dead, eyes wide open.

Creeping slowly up to him, Daphne prodded him with her foot and jumped back, expecting a reaction. "Looks like he's really dead," the Gryffindor commented as he stood beside her. "At least we didn't have to start a cave-in just to kill him."

She was silent, kneeling down to close his eyes. "Rest well, Argus Flinch." she murmured. "...and sorry for the pain we have cost you."

"Griffin, this is Dragon 1-1!" the Blackhawk flyer began frantically. "There's a horde of BOWs rushing into your position - ETA two minutes!"

Indeed, the two could start hearing the cries and screams of the zombies heading for them. "What about the rest?" Daphne asked worriedly, slowly backing to the edge of the lakeside courtyard, the screams and moans getting louder.

"You two are the only ones left!" Dragon 1-1 said hurriedly. "Sit tight, I'm swinging by for an exfil!"

"Here they come!" Potter shouted, firing his MEW as the horde of BOWs streamed out of the Entrance Hall, Daphne rapidly casting spells to thin them out. Dragon 1-1 flew overhead, hovering above the stone railings, enough for them to jump on.

"Run!" the Slytherin screamed, casting one last spell before booking it right behind her Gryffindor companion.

While Potter jumped on board flawlessly, Daphne miscalculated and nearly fell to the lake. Thankfully, he managed to grabbed her hand just as Dragon 1-1 flew away just in time for the BOWs to miss grabbing her leg. "Damn, your heavy!" he jokingly complained as he brought her aboard.

She rolled her eyes and slapped him lightly on the shoulder before collapsing onto the chair, exhausted. "We made it Potter," she breathed, feeling giddy. "We made it!"

Potter chuckled. "Yeah, we did." he agreed, grinning as the Blackhawk flew by the lake, the sun fully rising in the east. "Where we going?"

"There's a temporary FOB a few kilometers away from the ward line!" Dragon 1-1 shouted, Daphne finally spotting where she was seated. "Everyone from Hogwarts is there!"

"Hey, what happens now?" she asked, looking at Potter.

He gave a big sigh. "I have no idea, Greengrass." he replied truthfully. "I guess the first thing I'm doing is sleep."

"A long, hot bath for me," Daphne replied, smiling wistfully. "I'm staying there for at least an hour, soaked in bubbles and warmth."

Potter snorted, looking amused. "Oh course, Greengrass."

"Daphne." she said suddenly, getting a look. "Call me Daphne. After everything, I guess you can start calling me by my first name, Potter."

"Then by that logic, call me Harry." he replied with that cute smirk of his, getting her to roll her eyes. The two lapsed into silence, content they had survived a terrible night. However, both knew this wasn't the end of their troubles with bioterrorism.

No, this was just the beginning of a dangerous future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AWESOME NOTES AND NOTIFICATIONS:  
> Your Watch has now ended - and I think this has a better ending than Game of Thrones Season 8 Finale had.  
> ANYWAY...thank you to all those who read this story. Truly, the journey of Devolution has been a hell of a ride - I didn't even plan to write this story yet here we are, at the last chapter. I hope you do like this ending I gave (which I believe is far better than what Bran the Broken saw and is now experiencing) and the justice that Daphne and Harry wrought on Mary and Jacob Spencer.
> 
> Now, before you all clamor for a sequel, there is already one. It's currently published already in my FFN account (same name as this one). Don't fret though, I will post a better "reaction" fic of sort than the one you can find in FFN, given Spencer pulled a reality TV on Hogwarts - expect to see the comments of Harry and Daphne's friends, allies, and enemies (it'll also give tiny spoilers of what the Annihilation would be).


End file.
